BROWN HARE (LEPUS EUROPAEUS)

ACTION PLAN

Compiled by The Wildlife Trust

This plan has been developed by the Wildlife Trust based on the national action plan, and on research carried out by the Mammal Society.

Lead Agencies Public Sector English Nature

Voluntary Sector Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group

1 INTRODUCTON

The Romans introduced the Brown Hare in to Britain for food some 2,000 years ago. It spread across mainland Britain, but remains absent from the northwest and western Highlands where the smaller mountain hare (Lepus timidus) retains dominance. By the 19^th century, numbers were considered relatively high and stable and this was largely due to a level of protection afforded by the law. However, the introduction of the Ground Game Act in 1880 led to large scale culling and a dramatic decline in the hare population. Following this period of culling, hare numbers rose steadily in the south-east and the eastern side of the country but remained relatively low in the south-west.

2 CURRENT STATUS

2.1 International / National Status

Since the 1960s, the Brown Hare has again undergone a substantial decline in numbers nationally, largely due to changes in agricultural practices.

A Brown Hare survey undertaken by the University of Bristol during the winter of 1991-2 discovered that hare numbers were only 20% of those estimated at the turn of the century. The population was estimated to be between 817,500 and 1,250,000 individuals. It was also found that the population was heavily biased towards arable landscapes, with virtually 20% of the entire national population contained within East Anglia.

Due to the dramatic decline in numbers, and their virtual disappearance from western Britain, the Brown Hare is now a National Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

2.2 Local Status

In Northamptonshire, the Brown Hare is a species of concern with a rapidly declining population and is therefore included in the county’s Red Data Book. However, records throughout 1996-7 showed that numbers are generally higher than those in many other counties and are especially concentrated in areas of grassland and cultivated/disturbed land.

3 CURRENT FACTORS CAUSING LOSS OR DECLINE

· Agricultural intensification. The loss of crop diversity and traditional arable farming practices has been the most important factor in the decline of the Brown Hare.

· Changes in planting and cropping regimes. The change from spring-sown to autumn-sown cereals has led to food shortages during the summer. It is suggested that a hare’s home range needs to encompass a diversity of habitat types to ensure a year-round food supply.

· Conversion of grassland to arable (although this is only a major factor when unimproved grassland is converted; improved, frequently mowed or heavily grazed grassland tend to be avoided).

· Move from cutting hay to silage. Silage is cut at the same time as high leveret production and, correspondingly, the use of ever-faster machinery is putting a higher proportion of both adults and leverets at risk.

· Increase in livestock densities. Hares are inclined to avoid fields with livestock, and as farmers tend to move dairy cattle between fields, a much larger land area is likely to be avoided.

Lesser factors affecting hare populations are:

· Local changes in culling intensity.

· Significant increase in fox number over the last 30 years (in the absence of fox predation, autumn hare populations can be 2.5 – 5 times larger).

· In-filling of old quarries where suitable vegetation has been allowed to develop.

· Periodic outbreaks of European Brown Hare Syndrome or other diseases can result in a large number of deaths.

· Severe climatic conditions (although numbers usually recover eventually).

4 CURRENT ACTION

· The National Brown Hare Species Action Plan contains details of current national actions; these include studies of hare ecology and population monitoring.

· Survey work has been carried out across Northamptonshire as part of the Mammal Atlas Project during 1996 and 1997. This has resulted in a list of the locations (grid reference) and habitat types where Brown Hares were sighted.

· Local volunteers and other interested parties have provided the Wildlife Trust with details of subsequent sightings.

BROWN HARE OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS

	Objective	Action	Lead Agency	Partners	Targets
5.1	Policy and Legislation
	Objective One: Increase funding for agri-environment schemes that benefit the farmland biodiversity	Lobby central government and the EU	National Farmers Union	Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, CLA	Increased funding by 2004
	Objective Two: Ensure that BAP species are given an appropriate level of protection in local plans	Include species protection policies in local plans and/or supplementary guidance	Local Authorities		By 2003
5.2	Site and Species Safeguard and Management
	Objective Three: Encourage landowners and farmers to manage their land in a beneficial manner for Brown Hares.	Encourage landowners and farmers to join the Countryside Stewardship grant scheme. The aim is to create or enhance habitats suitable for Brown Hares.	Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, Local Authorities	Throughout Plan Period
		Ensure that the benefits of individual Countryside Stewardship Agreements are assessed.	Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Wildlife Trust	Throughout Plan Period
		Encourage landowners and farmers into more extensive, low-input farming practices	Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group		Throughout Plan Period
		Encourage landowners and farmers to take up the new flexible set-aside scheme, rather than rotational set-aside	Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group		Throughout Plan Period
5.3	Advisory
	Objective Four: Provide advice on Brown Hare conservation to land managers and farm conservation advisors	Ensure that the JNCC management advisory booklet for Brown Hares is widely distributed	English Nature	Wildlife Trust, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group	By 2002
		Incorporate up to date advice on management for brown hares in more general farm conservation advisory services	Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group	Dept for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	By 2001 and throughout the plan period
5.4	Future Monitoring and Research
	Objective Five: Determine brown hare numbers and distribution across Northamptonshire and establish the population trend	Publish the County Mammal Atlas containing Brown Hare distribution Information	Wildlife Trust		By 2002
		Develop targets for the Brown Hare population following initial survey work	Wildlife Trust		2002
		Set up a survey with local volunteers carrying out the recording. The aim is to establish the status of this species within the county. Re-survey at intervals of 2-3 years	Wildlife Trust	English Nature, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, County Mammal Recorder, Local volunteers, including farmers	First survey completed by 2004
		Pass information gathered during local surveys and monitoring to the National database	Wildlife Trust	County Mammal Recorder	Following completion of survey in 2004
		Participate in the National Hare Survey when it is repeated	Wildlife Trust	County Mammal Recorder, Local volunteers
5.5	Communications and Publicity
	Objective Six: Use the Brown Hare’s popularity and public appeal to highlight the impact that modern intensive farming practices have on biodiversity		Wildlife Trust	BAP Partners	Throughout plan period
5.6	Review
	Objective Seven: Review the plan to assess progress, and where necessary update and amend		Wildlife Trust	BAP Partners	2005
	Objective Eight: Publicise the progress made in delivering this Action Plan in a BAP Annual Report			BAP Partners	Annual

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