Written by Henrietta Appleton, GWCT Policy Officer
There are currently calls for the introduction of a closed season for brown hares through both a private bill by Baroness Helic and a parliamentary petition, which has received a government response. This indicates that the government supports such an initiative but needs a primary legislative vehicle to facilitate it.
Hares have a rather unique status – they are a species of conservation concern and a pest species at the same time. Pest species are not afforded a closed season as the disruption of breeding is part of most control strategies. This is not the case with hares, which are only controlled in very small numbers during the breeding season and only when they are causing damage to crops. These are usually spring-planted precision-drilled crops where a single individual can cause serious damage in a short space of time unless removed.
The assertion that large hare shoots take place in the main breeding season is unfounded. It is illegal for hares to be traded during this time, so it’s not done.
The question, therefore, is whether female hares are breeding in February and therefore, if shot, could leave dependent leverets to die. A 1974 research paper mentions that some pregnant females can be found from January to August. But although the reproductive cycle begins as early as January, hares reach full reproductive activity in March and April, hence the wonderful March madness displays of boxing hares reaching a peak at this time.
The government response cites Butterworth et al 2017 to support the view that breeding hares are shot in February. But if you examine the data, the birth rate/adult female allocated to February is between 14% and 13% of that in the main breeding months of April and May.
This does not mean that the GWCT is opposed to a closed season. Instead, we propose that there should be exceptions where hare control for crop protection is permitted. A proposed closed season for the brown hare has been the subject of many recent private members bills, and in each case we have sought a discussion with the proposer. In answer to the last call for a closed season we produced this policy appraisal.
The irony of this whole debate is that the conservation of the brown hare is based on the provision of suitable habitat and predation management (as proven by GWCT research). Where this occurs, mostly in the arable areas of the country, hare numbers can reach levels that cause crop damage. We demonstrated this at Loddington (see Gamekeeping and brown hare numbers). Where conditions are good, the hare population can expand rapidly, with does capable of producing double figure numbers of offspring in a season. Where there are large numbers of hares, their control is sustainable given that this usually results in nothing more than a temporary drop in numbers. Where hare numbers are low, this is likely because the habitat is poor and predation unmanaged. It is these things which determine the hare population.
As in many situations, our science has demonstrated what is needed to conserve a species and in the case of the brown hare it is back to the basics of habitat and protection from predators. Distracting comments on a closed season do not help the brown hare. Action does.