Brown hares are primarily herbivorous. Their diet includes herbaceous plants, cereals, berries, vegetables, and some fungi, such as mushrooms. This species of hare also eats some of its fecal droppings laid during the night, and digests them a second time to obtain essential nutrients (proteins and vitamins) from material as it passes through the alimentary canal a second time.
Plant Foods: leaves; wood, bark, or stems; seeds, grains, and nuts; flowers; lichens
Other Foods: fungus; dung
Primary Diet: herbivore (Folivore , Granivore , Lignivore)
Hares are in danger from the first day of their existence from a number of predators, including raptors and foxes and other mammalian carnivores. Their greatly elongated hindlimbs have allowed them to adopt a bounding gait and occupy areas with limited shelter. So, instead of taking cover when danger approaches, they depend on their running ability for escape. About 20 to 40 percent of annual hare offspring are eliminated by predators or natural causes. Loss among hares is to a much greater extent due to diseases and parasites than predators. Deaths are also connected with weather, nutritional deficiencies, agricultural activities, and road traffic.
Known Predators:
Brown Hares have a slender body with a bushy tail. The oval-shaped head has very long (12 to 14 cm), black-tipped ears and large, reddish-brown eyes. This species also has very long and powerful hind legs. Lepus capensis has ginger-brown fur with shades of black on the upper parts, a more ginger-colored breast and sides, with white inner sides of the legs and belly, and reddish-gray hair on the nape of the neck. ( http://www.borealforest.org, Grzimek 1990, http://www.harrogate.co.uk/biltonhistory)
Range mass: 4 to 5 kg.
Range length: 520 to 595 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Specific information on the longevity of this species is not available. However, hares rarely live more than a year in the wild. Only a few individuals obtain 5 years, and the highest recorded age of 12.5 years is an exception.
This species is found in open land, such as meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, sandy moors, and marshes, close to hedges, thickets, and forests. Lepus capensis inhabits bioclimatic regions that are temperate and humid, hot and dry, and can be found in barren and extreme arid deserts. ( http://www.borealforest.org, Kronfeld and Shkolnik 1996)
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune
Wetlands: marsh
Other Habitat Features: agricultural
Lepus capensis is native to non-forested areas of Africa, including one population in the south and a distinct one in the Sahel and Sahara. It is also widespread through parts of the Middle East and Central Asia ( http://www.geobop.com, http://www.borealforest.org; Wilson and Reeder, 1993)
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Introduced ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
Hares provide about 5 percent of total food intake for their predators.
Humans hunt these hares for food.
Positive Impacts: food
When L. capensis populations are high, these hares may cause damage in young forest plantations and among crops.
Negative Impacts: crop pest
These animals are not currently a conservation concern.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
The communication patterns of these animals have not been reported in detail. However, it is likely that as with all diurnal mammals, there are some forms of visual communication, such as is seen in the ritual interactons between males during mating season. Tactile communication is probably important between mates, as well as between mothers and their offspring. Chemical cues may help to identify reproductive condition, and may play some role in mating. Hares have acute hearing, but the role of this in communication within the species is not known.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Many populations of this species have been recognized as distinctive and sometimes been considered full species.
The mating system of these animals has not been reported.
Mating among L. capensis occurs from January to June, with the young being born from March to October. Gestation lasts 42 days, and the doe raises 2 to 4 litters of 1 to 6 leverets per year. During the mating season, mating activities are very lively in the late morning or early afternoon. ( http://www.borealforest.org, Grzimek 1990)
Breeding interval: Breeding may occur at intervals of approximately three months.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs from January to June, with young produced from March to October..
Range number of offspring: 1 to 6.
Range gestation period: 38 to 41 days.
Average gestation period: 40 days.
Range weaning age: 14 to 28 days.
Average weaning age: 28 days.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 7 to 9 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 7 to 9 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 118.4 g.
Average number of offspring: 2.6.
Lepus capensis newborn weigh an average of 4.5 oz and develop rapidly in the nest. The young are suckled for three weeks, at which time they are already eating plant food. Young are idependent and completely weaned by one month. At this time they reach a weight of about 2 lb. Brown hares reache adulthood at 7 to 9 months. ( http://www.borealforest.org, Grzimek 1990)
Parental Investment: precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female)
The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.[1]
The Cape hare was one of the many mammal species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Lepus capensis.[2]
The taxon is part of a species complex. Lepus tolai and Lepus tibetanus were moved out based on geographic distribution and molecular characteristics. The current remaining grouping of Lepus capensis sensu lato remains paraphyletic.[3]
The Cape hare is a typical hare, with well-developed legs for leaping and running, and large eyes and ears to look for threats from its environment. Usually, a white ring surrounds the eye. It has a fine, soft coat which varies in colour from light brown to reddish to sandy grey. Unusually among mammals, the female is larger than the male, an example of sexual dimorphism.
The Cape hare inhabits macchia-type vegetation, grassland, bushveld, the Sahara Desert and semi-desert areas. It is also common in parts of the Ethiopian highlands, such as Degua Tembien.[4]
The Cape hare is a nocturnal herbivore, feeding on grass and various shrubs. Coprophagy, the consumption of an organism's own fecal material to double the amount of time food spends in the digestive tract, is a common behaviour amongst rabbits and hares. This habit allows the animal to extract the maximum nourishment from its diet, and microbes present in the pellets also provide nutrients.
Like other hares, they run fast. The only predator which is capable of outrunning them is the cheetah. All other predators are ambush and/or opportunistic hunters; examples of these are leopards, caracals, and black-backed jackals.
After a 42-day-long pregnancy, the female gives birth to from one to three young, termed leverets, per litter and may have as many as 4 litters per year. A characteristic of hares which differentiates them from rabbits is that the young are born precocial; that is, the young are born with eyes open and are able to move about shortly after birth. The Cape hare is no exception in this regard.
Cape hare (Lepus capensis arabicus) photographed at Watba Camel Race Track, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Cape hare hieroglyph depicted at the Temple of Edfu
Currently, 12 subspecies are recognised:[5]
The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.