Lepus europaeus

Lepus europaeus

The European hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) is a mammal belonging to the Leporidae family.

Systematic –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to the Eukaryota Domain, Regno Animalia, Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata, Classe Mammalia, Subclass Theria, Infraclasse Eutheria, Superorder Euarchontoglires, Order Lagomorpha, Family Leporidae and therefore to the Genus Lepus, to the Subgenus Eulagos and to the Species L. europaeus.
Within this species, the following subspecies are recognized:
– Lepus europaeus caspicus;
– Lepus europaeus connori;
– Lepus europaeus creticus;
– Lepus europaeus cyprius;
– Lepus europaeus cyrensis;
– Lepus europaeus europaeus;
– Lepus europaeus hybridus;
– Lepus europaeus judeae;
– Lepus europaeus karpathorum;
– Lepus europaeus medius;
– Lepus europaeus occidentalis;
– Lepus europaeus parnassius;
– Lepus europaeus ponticus;
– Lepus europaeus rhodius;
– Lepus europaeus syriacus;
– Lepus europaeus transsylvanicus.

Geographical Distribution and Habitat –
The European Hare is a mammal native to Europe and Asia, with an area that extends over almost all of Europe (including Great Britain and Ireland, but with the exception of some areas of central-southern Italy and Corsica, where Lepus corsicanus and Lepus capensis mediterraneus live, the latter in Sardinia alone) up to the Middle East and Central Asia.
In addition to the natural diffusion area, the hare was introduced by man to various parts of the world. It is therefore present in North America (Great Lakes area, New England), Central (Mexico) and Southern (Argentina and Chile), as well as in Australia and New Zealand and the Far East.
Its preferred habitat, although varied, is that of grassland areas surrounded by bushy areas where to hide, especially in hilly-mountainous areas, where it feeds on all types of plants. Although it prefers flat and hilly areas, it goes up to the mountains up to 2000 m a.s.l. in the Alps and 2600 m a.s.l. on the Apennine chain.

Description –
The European Hare can be recognized as it is an animal with a rather slender shape, with hind limbs longer than the front ones, a peculiarity that, together with the powerful rear end, gives it the speed and skill of a great runner and jumper.
It has a length that varies between 40 and 70 cm (in addition to about 8 cm of tail), and a weight that stands between 1.5 and 5 kg, so it is one of the largest living leporidae.
The ears measure 8-14 cm and the rear foot 9.5-15 cm.
The body is covered with a fawn-grayish hair mixed with black parts on the back, more reddish on the neck, on the shoulders, on the sides. In winter, the coloring of the hair tends to take on shades closer to gray.
The ears have a black tip and are pale fawn; black is also the upper part of the tail, which below and on the sides is white.
The muzzle is characterized by two large yellow eyes and long white vibrissae. The eyes are placed on the sides of the head and this position allows the animal to have a very wide field of vision, even if its vision is modest. The sense of hearing, on the other hand, is particularly developed: the mobility of the large auricles allows him to perceive and locate even the slightest noise.

Biology –
The breeding season usually falls in the spring but can go from January to September, depending on different climatic characteristics.
In this phase the males gather around the females in estrus, engaging in fights to win the right to mate with them first.
During the fighting phases the rabbits abandon some cautions so they become easier prey for carnivorous animals.
Mating is somewhat promiscuous as males tend to mate with as many females as possible, also using strength.
During the year, a female can carry out up to three pregnancies, depending on the availability of food and climatic conditions. Another peculiarity is that the female can be fertilized again before she has even given birth (superfetation).
The gestation lasts 6 weeks and in the end 1 to 6 babies are born.
Unlike the rabbit, the small newborn hares already have their eyes open and their body covered with hair, and already starting a few hours after birth they are able to move easily, even if they spend most of the time hidden individually in several sites near the maternal refuge, with the female returning to them only for feeding.
Weaning occurs around the month of life, the period in which the puppies definitively move away from the mother.
Sexual maturity is acquired before reaching the first year of age: on average 5-7 months for males and 6-8 months for females.
The longevity of the common hare is around 5-8 years of age.

Ecological role –
The European Hare is a mammal with crepuscular and nocturnal habits although it is possible to observe it, even if rarely, even during the day, in slightly disturbed places or on particularly cloudy days.
His refuge, unlike the rabbit, is not that of burrows dug in depth but of natural ravines or superficial holes of the ground, at most twenty centimeters deep, where he takes refuge by blending perfectly with the surrounding soil, thanks to the highly camouflage coat.
In general it is a very shy and cautious animal with developed senses. If disturbed or in danger, he does not run away immediately but tends to freeze his movements and to remain perfectly still in order to blend in with the surrounding environment. As soon as possible, if not sure in his refuge, he comes out into the open with a leap that can reach 1.5 m in height and 2.5 m in length, with an often zigzag escape to confuse the ideas to the attacker and disperse the tracks. During the race it can reach 60 km per hour.
The main predators are: the golden eagle, the lynx, the wolf, the goshawk and, above all, the fox.
The diet of this mammal is exclusively herbivorous; in summer it feeds on grasses, fruits, and mushrooms; in winter dry herbs and bark of trees and shrubs.
Like all lagomorphs, the common hare has a double digestion of food, capable of extracting as much energy as possible from a herbivorous diet. After ingesting the food, it expels it in the form of soft stools, greenish in color and with a gelatinous consistency, which are again ingested and redigested, and then expelled as hard, dark-colored stools.
Although the population has declined significantly in the past, the population is now stable or locally increasing and is therefore assessed as a Minor Concern (LC).
The reduction was consistent from the 1960s to the 1990s. Some populations now show signs of recovery. Good consistencies have been maintained in protected areas and in those characterized by careful hunting management.
The causes of the decline are generally attributed both to the qualitative and quantitative modification of the suitable environments, due to the modern cultivation criteria (significant reduction of environmental diversity and forage areas, mechanization, use of pesticides, abandonment of non-mechanized agricultural areas) , both at high hunting pressure.
Among the conservation measures, being a huntable animal in accordance with law 157/92, the species requires the application of correct hunting management models, so that the sampling is related to natural productivity. It follows the abandonment of the practice of restocking, which in the last fifty years has been implemented mainly with animals imported from other countries and has led to two negative effects: the spread of new pathogens and the introduction of allochthonous forms.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– Gordon Corbet, Denys Ovenden, 2012. Guide to the mammals of Europe. Franco Muzzio Editore.
– John Woodward, Kim Dennis-Bryan, 2018. The great encyclopedia of animals. Gribaudo Editore.