02/09/2019
New data published by the EU, revealing the
condition of Scottish protected species and habitats, has revealed the
country's Mountain Hare populations have experienced major declines.
As a result, the status of Mountain Hare
has been downgraded to unfavourable, meaning that special conservation action
needs to be undertaken to arrest further declines and aid their recovery. The
main cause of this reclassification has been identified as hunting and game
management. Lesser pressures include the impacts of agriculture and habitat loss.
The Article 17 Report requires the Scottish
Government to give information on the status of European protected habitats and
species. Scottish Natural Heritage, the government's own natural heritage
advisor, has taken the action on the back of new evidence revealing
catastrophic Mountain Hare declines particularly in areas managed for intensive
driven grouse shooting activity.
RSPB Scotland has lobbied for many years to
improve the protection for the hares in Scotland, including calling for a
moratorium in 2015 on the unregulated culling. Since then, shocking new
evidence has shown the species – a true emblem of Scotland's wild places – has
declined by more than 90 per cent in some sites managed for driven grouse
shooting in spite of claims from the shooting industry that numbers remain
healthy.
Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land
Management at RSPB Scotland, said: "We have been extremely concerned about
the state of our Mountain Hare populations for many years. In the last 12
months new, robust evidence has shown that populations have declined
precipitously, chiefly in areas managed for driven grouse shooting. This reclassification
to unfavourable status demands urgent action.
"The recognition from Scottish
Government's own advisors that Mountain Hare population is now unfavourable
means that increased protection of this iconic species is needed.
Self-regulation and claimed 'voluntary restraint' from culling by the
industry has been nothing short of a pitiful failure.
"We urge the Scottish Government to
take action where the industry has not and to urgently increase the protection
of mountain hares in Scotland until their status is secured."
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