The mountain hare population of the moorlands in the eastern Scottish Highlands has plummeted by 99 per cent since the 1950s. From 1954 to 1999, hares on moorland sites decreased by almost 5 per cent every year, and the decline accelerated to 30 per cent per year between 1999 and 2017.
The increased decline in the past two decades coincided with a boost in hare culling by gamekeepers, with the intention of controlling the spread of ticks and protecting these fragile environments.
The increased decline in the past two decades coincided with a boost in hare culling by gamekeepers, with the intention of controlling the spread of ticks and protecting these fragile environments.
Duncan Orr Ewing, head of species and land management at the RSPB in Scotland, said: “We consider that large-scale population reduction culls are both illegal under EU law and unwarranted as a method for controlling grouse disease."
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/mountain-hare-uk-scotland-population-decline-1950s-moorland-grouse-wildlife-a8490721.html
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