Abstract
Simple SummaryHare coursing is a widespread and controversial activity in the Republic of Ireland in which the speed and agility of greyhounds are measured against that of a hare. Every year, several thousands of hares are taken from the wild by coursing clubs under licenses issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. While the majority are returned to the wild at the end of the coursing season, no research has been done on the impact of hare coursing on the welfare of individual hares. Despite greyhounds in licensed coursing events being muzzled since 1993, hares may be pinned to the ground by the dogs and killed or so severely injured that they have to be euthanized by a veterinary practitioner. In addition to animal welfare concerns, the recent emergence in Ireland of rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD2) has led to calls for licensed hare coursing to be prohibited on animal welfare, disease control, conservation and ethical grounds. In this paper, publicly available information provided by licensed hare coursing clubs on the number of hares captured, used for coursing events, killed or injured and the percentage returned to the wild, over four coursing seasons is reviewed. A reported 19,402 hares were taken from the wild over the four coursing seasons. Whilst 19,080 hares (98%) were returned to the wild, 75 were killed by greyhounds or had to be euthanized due to their injuries. Policy makers should take animal welfare, disease control, conservation, ethics and public opinion into account and fund independent research where gaps in knowledge are identified.Hare coursing is legal in the Republic of Ireland under licenses issued to coursing clubs but is illegal in other jurisdictions in the British Isles including Northern Ireland. Supporters of coursing maintain that coursing contributes to the conservation of the hare whilst opponents claim that coursing is cruel and the welfare of the hares is compromised. However, while the contribution of coursing to conservation has been considered, the impact of coursing on hare welfare has not been investigated. This paper reviews publicly available information from licensed hare coursing clubs over four coursing seasons, including the number of hares taken from the wild, numbers coursed, and numbers pinned to the ground by dogs, killed or injured during coursing events. In total, 19,402 hares were taken from the wild—98% of which were subsequently released back to the wild at the end of the coursing season. Almost 600 hares were pinned by greyhounds during coursing events and 75 were either killed or had to be euthanized as a result of their injuries. While the number of hares killed or injured is relatively small compared to the number caught, the welfare of all captured hares will have been compromised and has not been investigated. Policy makers must fill this knowledge gap or take a precautionary approach and further regulate or indeed prohibit the capture of hares which are otherwise fully protected.
Highlights
The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus Bell 1837) is widely distributed on the island of Ireland and is protected in the Republic of Ireland under the Wildlife Act 1976 and the Wildlife (Amendment)Act 2002
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that more information is needed to determine the impact of hare coursing on the welfare of individual hares and the Irish hare population
This paper reviews data provided by 72 licensed hare coursing clubs from 22 of 26 counties over four hare coursing seasons (2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19) that are publicly available on forms uploaded to the website of the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service [4]
Summary
The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus Bell 1837) is widely distributed on the island of Ireland and is protected in the Republic of Ireland under the Wildlife Act 1976 and the Wildlife (Amendment)Act 2002. The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus Bell 1837) is widely distributed on the island of Ireland and is protected in the Republic of Ireland under the Wildlife Act 1976 and the Wildlife (Amendment). Directive (92/43/EEC) and is recognized as an internationally important species in the Irish Red Data. It is a game or quarry species and can be hunted during an open season which runs from the 26th of September each year to the 28th of February of the following year. Ireland and other jurisdictions within the British Isles (Northern Ireland: Game Preservation (Special Protection for Irish Hares) Order, Northern Ireland 2003; Scotland: Protection of Wild. Up to 79 coursing clubs are issued with licenses to capture hares from the wild using nets. Hares are tagged and transported to a holding pen (or hare park) for up to two months or more during which time they will be ‘coursed’
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