As of: March 31, 2024, 7:07 a.m
By: Manuel Rank
Comments
Press
Split
Good news from the hunting association at Easter: They are seeing more brown hares in Germany again. There are also many long-eared birds hopping in Bavaria. But conservationists warn.
Munich – After years there are more brown hares in Germany again. Although there are currently no separate figures for Bavaria, Sebastian Ziegler, Vice President of the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), assumes a stable population. This is the result of the brown hare monitoring by hunters that is currently underway in the Free State.
A brown hare (Lepus europaeus) jumps over a field in the early morning. The hunting association sees the population in Bavaria at a stable level. But there are also worried voices. © Patrick Pleul/dpa
Nationwide, there were an average of 19 brown hares per square kilometer in fields, meadows and fields in the spring of last year. “This is an all-time high,” said spokesman for the German Hunting Association (DJV), Torsten Reinwald. It is the highest value since nationwide monitoring began in 2001. In 2022, an average of 16 animals per square kilometer were counted across Germany. The dry spring of 2023 in particular provided optimal starting conditions for the offspring of rabbits, explains Reinwald. The endangered brown hares are widespread almost everywhere in Germany.
European hare is on the Red List of Endangered Species
But at least for Bavaria, conservationists warn: Dwindling habitats, a lack of food such as herbs and increasing traffic on the roads are causing problems for the Lepus europaeus - the hare's Latin name. Like many species in fields and fields, it is a rare sight and is on the red list of endangered species, as the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria (BN) announced on Monday (March 25th).
The graphic shows the brown hare population in Germany from 2003 to 2023 - with a positive trend. © German Hunting Association (DJV)
(By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you daily about all the important stories from Bavaria.)
The BN sees intensive agriculture as one reason for this: “In order to avoid a further decline in rabbit populations, we need to preserve and enhance the landscape with flower-rich meadows, meadows, borders, hiding places such as old hedgerows and fallow areas, as well as a biotope network to connect them Habitats,” said Wolfgang Dötsch from the BN Nuremberg district group. Many other species in the agricultural landscape would also benefit from this, such as yellowhammers, lapwings, common frogs and many insect species. The land consumption also further restricts living spaces.
My news
NATO fighter jets rise: Russian planes intercepted over the Baltic Sea
Meloni takes action: Italy cancels the “super bonus” read
After 20 years, the citizen's benefit recipient finally finds work - two days later he is already annoyed
After rocket attacks on Ukraine, Poland launches fighter jets in the middle of the night
Quake in the construction industry: Read the bankruptcy of a large German real estate company
Wages instead of citizens' money: Jobcenter starts unusual reading campaign
Intensive agriculture endangers brown hares - their habitat is less varied
Hunters are also not expecting a record year for the rabbit population in Bavaria in 2024, as hunting association vice-president Ziegler estimated in an interview with the
German Press Agency (dpa
). It would therefore be important for the brown hare to have a spring that is not too wet. Brown hares have a large number of offspring because the mortality rate is high, says Ziegler. On average, a female rabbit has eleven young per year, one or two of which survive. This worked well in Germany until the population declined sharply at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 2000s. According to Ziegler, one of the reasons is the loss of habitat and therefore food.
Similar to the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria, the hunting association points to intensive agriculture, which makes the habitat for the long-eared bats less varied. But the animals need nutritious food such as dandelions, clover or wild herbs, Ziegler told the
dpa
. This would allow the animals to gain fat and female rabbits to produce wholesome milk for their offspring. Fat reserves could help the rabbits meet their moisture needs even in particularly dry summers. Hedges, flowering meadows or ditches also offer protection from predators. Here hunters could help the brown hare by hunting red foxes, raccoons and stone martens.
BJV vice-president criticizes the EU: recently suspended agricultural regulations
Ziegler regrets that the EU recently suspended guidelines according to which four percent of agricultural land should have been designated as fallow land. These areas would have benefited the brown hare, but also other animal species. Now the BJV vice-president said it was voluntary. Farmers need more financial incentives for nature conservation measures.
(mara/dpa)
Last month, rabbit plague, which is also contagious to humans, was detected in Swabia.
You can find more news in our Merkur.de app, now in an improved design with more personalization functions. Directly available for download, more information can be found here. Are you an enthusiastic user of WhatsApp? Merkur.de will now keep you up to date via a new Whatsapp channel. Click here to go directly to the channel.