The hare in Hungary: the game of the Great Plain

The brown hare (Lepus europaeus), described in our entry Brown hare, is the only hare on the Hungarian list of huntable species. The regulations class it among the "useful small game species" (hasznos apróvadfajok), alongside the wild rabbit, the pheasant and the grey partridge^[3].

As a sign of its cultural roots, the same decree allows hares to be hunted with the magyar agár, the Hungarian greyhound. With a gun, a hare may only be shot while running^[3].

Hungary's 1996 Act on the protection of game, wildlife management and hunting created a national database, the Országos Vadgazdálkodási Adattár (OVA). Developed since 1993 by the Department of Wildlife Biology and Management of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), it brings together the population estimates, annual plans and management reports of every hunting ground; the planning and supervision of game management rely on its data^[2].

It is on this basis that the Ministry of Agriculture publishes its statistical bulletin every year. For 2024, it covers all of the country's management units^[1].

According to the ministry's 2024 bulletin, small game declined for decades, before a slight recovery between 2019 and 2021, two years of decline, then a new increase in 2024. Over five years, the estimated hare population has grown by 33.7%, and the bag for the 2024/2025 season is 9% higher than that of the previous season^[1].

The ministry remains cautious: in its view, the long-term decline of small game can only be halted by preserving and improving its habitat, which requires cooperation with farmers, predator control and action against wild boar settling in farming areas^[1].

Hunting seasons are set nationally, in an annex to the implementing decree of the 1996 Act^[3]. Each hunting ground operates under an annual management plan approved by the hunting authority. For hare and pheasant, this authority automatically revises the harvest section of the plan every year ahead of the season, taking into account the opinion of the regional chief gamekeeper (tájegységi fővadász)^[3].

Hunters are represented by the Hungarian National Chamber of Hunters (Országos Magyar Vadászkamara), organised by county^[5].

Hungary also regulates the capture of live hares. The decree allows them to be caught with selective nets and sets the period during which they may be taken alive^[3]. In January 2016, for example, the Hungarian press described a winter netting campaign run by a hunting club in Tiszapüspöki, whose hares were sent to Italy to refresh the bloodlines of local populations^[4].

GIBIS, a game breeder based in Chatte, in the Isère department of France, raises young hares there and also offers wild-caught hares from Central Europe: see our hares. For the precautions to take before any operation, see our guide to returning hares to the wild. The photos on this page show the species in its habitat and do not depict our animals.