Studies on the European hare. V. Reproduction

Abstract

Studies on the European Hare. V. Reproduction Badania nad zającem szarakiem. V. Rozród

Studies on the European hare. 42. Population dynamics of the European hare Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 in Central Poland

“…Ny was determined by assuming after Raczyński (1964) and Pielowski (1976), a constant litter size for condition prevailing in Poland, i.e. 7.4 young born to one female during one breeding season.…”

Studies on the European hare. XXXIII. Embryo counts and length of the breeding season in European hares in Scotland from 1960-1972

“…This paper describes a small study of breeding in European hares Lepus capensis Linnaeus, 1758 (= L. europaeus) in northeast Scotland over 13 years, compares breeding in Scotland with data from Poland where Raczyński (1964) did a detailed study, and examines weather factors which may be related to variations in breeding. II.…”

Artificial induction of superfetation in the European hare (Lepus europaeus)

“…Similarly, in this study, the percentage of pregnant females after the first insemination was 73% for group A and B and 57% for group C in the next breeding season. Out of 12 pregnancies found there, nine were single and three twin pregnancies, which also correspond to the numbers of young in early year pregnancies mentioned by most of the authors (Hackländer et al 2003;Hildebrandt et al 2009;Kozdrowski 2009;Kozdrowski and Siemieniuch 2009;Raczyński 1964).…”

“…However, European hares inhabiting Mediterranean ecosystems can reproduce all over the year (Antoniou et al 2008). Additionally, a phenomenon of superfetation (conception by an already pregnant female) may occur in a hare, which, according to Raczyński (1964), occurs very occasionally in the natural environment and does not have a greater influence on the effectiveness of the European hare reproduction. In general, superfetation occurs very occasionally in other animal species and is recognized as pathology (Gee 1971), whereas it is considered to be normal in the hare.…”

“…During this period, a female hare can give birth to four litters and an average litter size is 2-4 (Raczyński 1964). However, European hares inhabiting Mediterranean ecosystems can reproduce all over the year (Antoniou et al 2008).…”