Hares in North Macedonia: state-owned game and prey of the lynx

The species found in the country is the brown hare (Lepus europaeus), described in our brown hare profile. In the mountain ranges of the west of the country, researchers have studied it in mosaics of grazed or abandoned pastures and small cultivated plots^[2].

A study published in 2025 in the Macedonian Journal of Ecology and Environment estimated its density within the range of the Balkan lynx for the first time. Using camera traps set at four sites in Mavrovo National Park, the authors obtained between 3.4 and 16.5 hares per square kilometre depending on the site^[2].

This study starts from one observation: the critically endangered Balkan lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus) depends on two main prey species, the roe deer and the brown hare^[2]. Better knowledge of hare populations is therefore also a conservation issue for this predator.

These results are local: no recent national statistics on hare numbers or hunting bags could be consulted for this page. For country-wide data, contact the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.

The Macedonian Hunting Act (Закон за ловството), amended several times up to 2023, states that game belongs to the State and enjoys special protection as a good of general interest^[1]. The hare appears among the « main game management species » and on the list of protected game, for which the Act itself sets the close season (ловостој)^[1]. During this period, protected game may not be hunted, pursued or disturbed^[1].

The right to use the game of a hunting ground is granted by the government as a concession, for ten years for small game and twenty years for big game; the concessionaire is obliged to raise and protect the game^[1]. Management relies on a twenty-year general game management plan adopted by the Assembly, and on a ten-year specific plan for each hunting ground adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy^[1]. Concessionaires may join the Hunting Federation of Macedonia (Ловечка федерација на Македонија), the voluntary national hunters' association^[1].

A comparative analysis published in 2019 by researchers at the University of Skopje nevertheless finds that the Act contains gaps, inconsistencies and provisions that are hard to apply^[3].

The Act makes the introduction of non-native game species into a hunting ground subject to authorisation from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, after an opinion from the Ministry of Environment and on the basis of a study by an accredited scientific institution^[1]. For any question about returning hares to the wild, check with that ministry. Our guide to returning hares to the wild sets out the preparation steps from a French perspective.

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. The photos on this page show the species in its habitat and do not depict our animals.