5319 x 3540 px | 45 x 30 cm | 17,7 x 11,8 inches | 300dpi
Ubicazione:
Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Altre informazioni:
During the late 1800s there were about four million brown hares in Britain. But recent surveys show the brown hare has declined by more than 80% during the past 100 years and the decline is ongoing. In some parts of Britain, such as the South-West, the brown hare is almost a rarity and may even be locally extinct. The reasons for this decline are not entirely clear, but intensification of agriculture has certainly been a major factor. Hares do not hibernate or store appreciable amounts of fat in their bodies and so need a constant food supply throughout the year. This can only be provided by landscapes rich in biodiversity. Hares are renowned for their phenomenal powers of acceleration to 45mph, yet have a habit of ‘sitting tight’ to the ground when a predator approaches. This makes them vulnerable to being killed by farm machinery.