European Hare 322239 225528480 2008-07-14T04:14:53Z UtherSRG 33145 Revert to revision 220840749 dated 2008-06-21 21:34:45 by Cydebot using [[:en:Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups|popups]] {{Taxobox | name = European Hare<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Hoffmann | pages = 198-199}}</ref> | status = LR/lc | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2006 | assessors = Lagomorph Specialist Group | year = 1996 | id = 41280 | title = Lepus europaeus | downloaded = [[2006-05-12]]}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref> | image = Running hare.jpg | image_width = 240px | image_caption = European Hare running | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | ordo = [[Lagomorpha]] | familia = [[Leporidae]] | genus = ''[[Hare|Lepus]]'' | species = '''''L. europaeus''''' | binomial = ''Lepus europaeus'' | binomial_authority = [[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1778 }} The '''European Hare''' or '''Brown Hare''' (''Lepus europaeus'') is a species of [[hare]] native to northern, central, and western [[Europe]] and western [[Asia]]. It is a mammal adapted to temperate open country. It is related to the similarly appearing [[rabbit]], which is in the same family but a different genus. It breeds on the ground rather than in a burrow and relies on speed to escape. It is larger, longer-eared, and longer-legged than a rabbit. It has a body size of 50-70 cm and a tail length of 7-11 cm. The weight for a full-grown adult ranges from 2.5 to 6.5 kg. It can run at speeds of up to 70 km/h (45 mi/h). It is strictly [[herbivore|herbivorous]]. It eats grasses and herbs during the summer months but changes to feeding on twigs, bark, and the buds of young trees in winter, making it a pest to [[orchard]] farmers. Normally shy animals, hares change their behaviour in spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around meadows; this appears to be competition between males to attain dominance (and hence more access to breeding females). During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing". This is where hares strike one another with their paws. For a long time it had been thought that this was more inter-male competition, but closer observation has revealed that it is usually a female hitting a male, either to show that she is not yet quite ready to mate or as a test of his determination. The hare is declining in Europe due to changes in farming practices. Its natural predators include the [[Golden Eagle]] and carnivorous mammals like the [[Red Fox]] and [[Wolf]]. Smaller hares native to southern Europe previously regarded as European Hares have been split off as separate species in recent years, including the [[Broom Hare]] in northern [[Spain]]. ==Wild populations== The European Hare is now wild in Eastern [[North America]], South America, Australia, New Zealand and many islands including Tasmania, the [[Falklands]], Barbados and Reunion.<ref>Reid, N. & Montgomery, W. I. (submitted to Royal Irish Academy) Naturalisation of the brown hare in Ireland</ref> The species was imported to North America from [[Germany]] by a farmer living near [[Cambridge, Ontario]], [[Canada]] in 1912. It escaped from the farm, successfully colonised fields and woodland edges, and quickly made the "Jackrabbit" a common sight in southern [[Ontario]], [[New York State]] and [[New England]] where it is sometimes called the 'Eastern Jackrabbit'. Natural predators such as [[eagle]]s, [[owl]]s, [[fox]]es, [[coyote]]s, and [[bobcat]]s, together with humans and [[dog]]s, have kept the American population under control.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Hares have often been [[Beagling|hunted]] or [[Hare coursing|coursed]] for sport. "[[Hare|Jackrabbit]]" in [[United States|American]] usage (attested in 1882) more specifically refers to the closely related [[Black-tailed Jackrabbit]] (''Lepus californicus'') and the [[White-tailed Jackrabbit]] (''Lepus townsendii''). The name is supposed to be a shortening of "jackass-rabbit", so called for its long ears. ==Mythology== In pre-Christian Britain the hare was associated with the spring goddess [[Eostre]], and a connection lives on in the [[Easter Bunny]] celebrations. In Holland, Belgium and some other European mainland countries, it still is the Easter Hare rather than the Easter Bunny. ==References== {{commons|Lepus europaeus}} {{wikispecies|Lepus europaeus}} {{reflist}} ==External Links== *[http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/mammals/Lepus_europaeus/ ARKive] Photographs Videos {{Lagomorpha|L.}} {{English Game}} [[Category:Lepus]] [[Category:Mammals of Europe]] [[Category:Mammals of Asia]] [[Category:Fauna of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Fauna of the Republic of Ireland]] [[Category:Fauna of Spain]] [[Category:Fauna of Andorra]] [[Category:Fauna of France]] [[Category:Fauna of Luxembourg]] [[Category:Fauna of Monaco]] [[Category:Fauna of the Netherlands]] [[Category:Fauna of Belgium]] [[Category:Fauna of Germany]] [[Category:Fauna of Denmark]] [[Category:Fauna of Sweden]] [[Category:Fauna of Norway]] [[Category:Fauna of Finland]] [[Category:Fauna of Austria]] [[Category:Fauna of Liechtenstein]] [[Category:Mammals of Switzerland]] [[Category:Fauna of Italy]] [[Category:Fauna of San Marino]] [[Category:Fauna of Slovenia]] [[Category:Fauna of Bulgaria]] [[Category:Fauna of Slovakia]] [[Category:Fauna of the Czech Republic]] [[Category:Fauna of Poland]] [[Category:Fauna of Ukraine]] [[Category:Fauna of Moldova]] [[Category:Fauna of Romania]] [[Category:Fauna of Hungary]] [[Category:Fauna of Greece]] [[Category:Fauna of the Republic of Macedonia]] [[Category:Fauna of Albania]] [[Category:Fauna of Serbia]] [[Category:Fauna of Montenegro]] [[Category:Fauna of Kosovo]] [[Category:Fauna of Croatia]] [[Category:Fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina]] [[Category:Fauna of Turkey]] [[Category:Fauna of Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] [[Category:Fauna of Cyprus]] [[Category:Fauna of Syria]] [[Category:Fauna of Iraq]] [[Category:Fauna of Iran]] [[Category:Fauna of Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Fauna of Azerbaijan]] [[Category:Fauna of Armenia]] [[Category:Fauna of Russia]] [[Category:Fauna of Kazakhstan]] {{Link FA|nl}} [[bg:Див заек]] [[ca:Llebre comuna]] [[cs:Zajíc polní]] [[da:Europæisk hare]] [[de:Feldhase]] [[et:Halljänes]] [[es:Lepus europaeus]] [[it:Lepus europaeus]] [[lt:Pilkasis kiškis]] [[hu:Mezei nyúl]] [[nl:Haas (dier)]] [[pl:Zając szarak]] [[pt:Lebre-comum]] [[ru:Заяц-русак]] [[scn:Lebbru]] [[sl:Poljski zajec]] [[fi:Rusakko]] [[sv:Fälthare]] [[tr:Bayağı tavşan]] [[bat-smg:Zoikis]]