Ensuring mountain hares thrive in the uplands of Scotland

Ensuring mountain hares thrive in the uplands of Scotland

 Photo by Edwin Kats

Birdwatchers and naturalists cannot help but look forward to treats that the changing seasons ahead promise. As we move towards late autumn, I always look forward to seeing mountain hares starting to lose their cold brown summer coats and grow in their snowy white winter fur, ready for icy days ahead. A gorgeous creature, beautifully adapted to its environment. The sight always reminds me that here in the uplands of Scotland we are, in a real sense, on the fringes of the Arctic. These wild mammals are fascinating to watch, gathering together in the best feeding areas, sharing predator vigilance and establishing hierarchies among males. More than this, the species is of key ecological significance, as a native herbivore of our heather moorlands, grassy flushes and peatlands, and also as a hugely important source of food for natural predators - in particular the spectacular golden eagle.

It’s cause for concern, then, that it is increasingly clear this lovely species has declined in population over recent decades. Annual fluctuations in numbers are natural among small herbivores at high latitudes, and this makes detecting longer term changes in mountain hare populations difficult and scientifically challenging[1]. The excellent national Breeding Bird Survey run by the BTO on behalf of BTO/RSPB/JNCC has, for some time, encouraged surveyors to also record wild mammals, and this long-term data shows that between 1995 and 2010 mountain hare records declined by 52%, and that this decline is statistically significant - though the area covered by these surveys was not comprehensive. Other estimates arrive at different figures, but a general picture of worrying decline is emerging[2].

The causes of this are not fully understood. Threats may include habitat loss and fragmentation, and at some future stage climate change might alter the upland habitats favoured by this species. The mountain hare is a legal quarry species and is hunted – though this is not necessarily a problem at population level, and high densities can occur on some moors managed for grouse shooting. However, large numbers - many thousands each year - are shot for sport or culled on grouse moors in an effort to protect the game birds from a viral disease called louping ill which affects grouse, and is carried by sheep ticks. The hares may help the spread of ticks, and thus some estates cull them in order to maintain high numbers of grouse for shooting. Good evidence that these culls actually do improve grouse health and hunting incomes appears, however, to be superficial or lacking[3].

It make me happy and proud to know that RSPB Scotland provides safe homes for mountain hares on our reserves at Abernethy in the Cairngorms, Forsinard in Sutherland, and elsewhere. I believe that everyone who loves the wider uplands of Scotland should seek to ensure that mountain hares thrive across their range, and enliven a hill walk far into the future.