Demise of island hares a scandal

The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (CACS) is alarmed at the news that hares are now extinct on Dublin Bay’s North Bull Island, one of Ireland’s most important nature reserves and coincidentally one that for generations had been almost synonymous with the Irish hare.

An article on the North Bull Island Wildlife website, which is run by an ecologist with over 40 years experience of studying and recording wildlife, reveals that no hares have been spotted on the island since June 2014.

The disappearance of hares from the island is attributed to disturbance by humans and dogs, with assorted environmental factors playing a less significant role. The absence of the Irish hare from this internationally recognized nature reserve must surely be a matter of concern for our politicians, regardless of their views on the deliberate ill-treatment of hares in coursing.

It should also be a source of embarrassment to the political establishment, given the fact that licenses permitting the annual netting of thousands of hares are granted to coursing clubs.

Netting threatens local hare populations and is responsible for widespread interference with the species, including disturbance of pregnant hares, nursing mothers and leverets. Resulting depletion of vulnerable population pockets can lead to local extinction.

Apart from the cruelty factor (maulings, bone breakages, and other injuries are recorded by wildlife rangers annually at coursing events), there is also a concern about the reproductive viability of hares that are released back into the wild after being subjected to the terror, stress, and trauma of coursing.

The demise of the Irish Hare on the North Bull Island is all the more shocking and unacceptable given that the island has the most designations of any site in Ireland.

It is a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive, a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive, a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve, a National Nature Reserve and is part of the Natura 2000 Network.

Yet, despite this blanket of theoretical protection, the hares seem to have vanished into thin air on the island.

We hope the Minister for Arts and Heritage will see fit to facilitate the re-introduction of hares to the North Bull Island and to allocate the necessary resources to the NPWS to enhance their protected status on the island thereafter.

John Fitzgerald

PRO

Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports

Lower Coyne Street

Callan, Co Kilkenny