Survival rates on pre-weaning European hares (Lepus europaeus) in an intensively used agricultural area

Abstract

The primary cause of the long-term decline in European hares’ (Lepus europaeus) population throughout Europe is widely assumed to be the intensification of agriculture. A critical component in this population dynamics is seen in the survival of leverets from birth to reproductive age. In European hares, the first stage of life until weaning has been sparsely studied, in particular habitat selection, movements and survival rate, as juveniles’ precocial lifestyle is dominated by any kind of anti-predation behaviour. In the present study, free-living and pre-weaning European hares were detected systematically by thermography (n = 394), being radio-tagged or marked (n = 229) from birth until the fifth week of life to research the early juvenile survival and proximate causes of mortality. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were computed overall and in relation to the strata of season, sex and type of daytime resting place. The survival rate of radio-tagged leverets was 0.35 in the first month of life, and 0.63, 0.52 and 0.44 for the first, second and third week of life, respectively. Approximately 21.6% and 50% of all confirmed deaths occurred during the first 7 and 13 days after birth. By the end of the 4th week of life, the mortality rate caused by predation, suspected predation, agricultural practices and unexplained cases was 41.7%, 36.7%, 11.7% and 10.0%, respectively. There was no significant difference in survival between the sexes and seasons. In contrast, young hares died more frequently as a consequence of choosing a hiding place without shelter during the daytime.

Which Large- and Medium-Sized Mammals Use Commercial Short-Rotation Coppice as Habitat?

“…In general, European hares benefit from increased habitat heterogeneity, i.e. a small-scale mosaic of suitable habitats for foraging and cover with high proportions of edge-zones [36,[38][39][40][41][42]. Measures aimed at increasing the structural diversity of SRC, for example harvesting in sections in order to develop a mosaic of different age-classes, or integrating accompanying structures such as clearings, rides or wide headlands, could therefore improve the habitat quality of SRC for the European hare and also for other mammal species.…”

Causes of admission and outcomes of brown hare (Lepus europaeus) leverets at wildlife rescue centres in the Czech Republic

“…There is a high mortality rate in young hares in the wild in the first weeks of life, previous studies reported leveret mortality ranging from 65% [ 9 ] to 84% [ 11 ] in the first month. Thus, it is particularly important to limit the factors that further contribute to their mortality.…”

“…Although hares develop a large number of survival strategies [ 8 ], their mortality rate is extremely high, particularly among young in the first two weeks of life [ 9 ]. Hansen [ 10 ] reported a mortality rate of as much as 80% in leverets as a result of a shortage of suitable habitats.…”

Demographic examination of Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) stocks with special reference during birth and survival in Eastern Hungary

“…Survival rates in adult individuals were higher than in young ones regardless of sex (Φ = 0,507). The survival rate of radiolabelled brown hares after the first month was 0,35 in Voigt and Siebert (2020). Half of the deaths occurred in the first 13 days.…”