Skip to content
Ignite Your Business Journey — Finance — outdoor-living — Small-business

Brown Hare Numbers Plummet as Hunting Rises, Environmental Groups Demand Ban

Hunting numbers up, but environmental groups say it's not the main cause. They demand a halt to hunting to save the brown hare from extinction.

,   and  Administrator
2 min read
In this image I can see few animals and they are in brown color. The animals are eating grass,...
In this image I can see few animals and they are in brown color. The animals are eating grass, background I can see grass and trees in green color, few poles, a building in white color and the sky is in white color.

Brown Hare Numbers Plummet as Hunting Rises, Environmental Groups Demand Ban

The German Hunting Association (DJV) has reported an increase in the number of brown hares killed during the 2018/19 hunting season, with 191,854 hares hunted. This rise has raised concerns about the species' declining numbers, with environmental groups attributing the drop to industrial agriculture practices and calling for a halt to hare hunting.

The DJV's figures show an increase of 7,164 hares from the previous season, a jump of roughly 3.9 percent. However, the hunting community's claim that 'incidental casualties' are the main cause of this decline is disputed. PETA argues that these make up only a small fraction of the total hunting bag, with industrial agriculture being the primary driver behind the decline of threatened species like brown hares.

Over-fertilization and monocultures have depleted the food sources of brown hares, further weakening their populations. The hunting community's false blame on predators like foxes for the decline is also challenged, as foxes primarily feed on mice and pose no significant threat to hare populations. Hunting foxes has been found to have no regulatory or reducing effect on their numbers due to immigration and higher birth rates.

The Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) has demanded the closure of the annual hunt on the endangered red deer hare and submitted an application for a year-round hunting ban regulation. PETA has also demanded an immediate end to the hunting of brown hares to protect their endangered populations.

With the brown hare already listed as a threatened species on the Red List, environmental groups urge the German Hunting Association to halt hare hunting. If the DJV does not comply, PETA suggests that the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture should declare a year-round closed season for the species to prevent further decline.

Read also:

Related

Latest