A new joint venture by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) urging voluntary restraint on large scale culls of mountain hares doesn't go far enough, as only a ban on the barbaric practice will protect this endangered species.

 

Mountain hare populations are under threat from habitat loss, fragmentation, and in some areas, from large, local culls on grouse moors. Although not a fully protected species, the UK is obliged to ensure that the status of hare populations is not threatened in any way.

Most of us are familiar with the Brown Hare that is often over two feet long and more than twice the weight of a rabbit. The rarer Blue or Mountain Hare is smaller than her brown cousin at about 20 inches long. Like the stoat it changes to a white winter coat but retains the black tip to the ears, which are themselves shorter. The summer coat is a smoky brown or warm blue-grey with considerable variation, and in general it is softer and woollier than that of brown hares.

Mountain hares have become restricted to upland regions where they feed on heather and other moorland plants, while brown hares feed on lowland grasses and agricultural crops.

There's something mystical about watching a solitary hare, or poussie to give it its old Scottish name, wander across a field in the gloaming. Indeed, in medieval times when fear of witchcraft was rampant, a lot of witches were found and executioners kept busy. People genuinely believed that witches could transform themselves into hares and take to the fields when danger from "witch-finders" approached.

Owners of grouse moors cull mountain hares in an attempt to control ticks which transmit a viral disease known as louping ill, which can be fatal to grouse. That problem used to be controlled by dipping sheep in appropriate pesticides that killed ticks as they attempted to suck blood from them. Unfortunately, sheep graze the heather that grouse depend on and most hill sheep enterprises are only marginally profitable at best. As a result many grouse moor owners took advantage of the old Single Farm Payment (SFP) regime, that paid the same amount of subsidy whether you kept sheep or not, and sold their flocks. In the absence of sheep, ticks concentrate on hares, deer and grouse as their hosts, and there is no way of dipping them - hence the barbaric practice of shooting the hares in the forlorn hope of controlling the disease - but a study by scientists from the former Macaulay Land Research Institute in Aberdeen and the University of Glasgow in 2010 found that killing hares was not an effective way of controlling the disease.

Ron Macdonald, SNH director of policy and advice said: "Available evidence shows that large-scale culls of mountain hares are only effective when other tick-carrying animals are removed, or there is an absence of them in the area. Where such animals are not removed we urge that hare culls should not be undertaken."

The most recent survey for SNH found that over 24,500 mountain hares were shot or snared by 90 sporting estates in 2006-07. Half the hares were killed to try and control louping ill, 40% were shot for sport and 10% for forestry or crop protection.

Current data on hare numbers is unreliable and most of the information on population trends is drawn from reports to GWCT about the number of hares shot on estates (game bags).

SNH has joined forces with the James Hutton Institute (JHI) and GWCT to begin a three-year joint study to trial several methods of assessing mountain hare population densities to determine the number of hares in a particular area

A hare shoot is a sickening spectacle, made worse by the fact that they have a scream like that of a rabbit when wounded or in great danger. A wounded hare is the most heart-rending thing to see as she drags herself pitifully across the hillside or hobbles crying, in front of a retriever.

Such a sight inspired Robert Burns to write to his friend Mrs Dunlop: "Two mornings ago as I was at a very early hour, sowing in the fields, I heard a shot, and presently a poor little hare limped by me, apparently very much hurt. You will easily guess, this set my humanity in tears and my indignation in arms."

The bard was inspired to write "The wounded hare", which sums up the needless barbarity of shooting poussies.