Hares in Norway: the mountain hare, a game species in decline

Norway's native hare is the mountain hare (Lepus timidus), simply called « hare », or also fjellhare and nordhare. It occupies most of the country: mainly forests, but also treeless coasts and high mountains above the tree line. Its coat changes from greyish-brown in summer to white in winter^[1].

The Norwegian Red List classifies it as « near threatened » (NT), whereas its global status remains « least concern »^[1].

The brown hare (Lepus europaeus), described in our brown hare profile, is called sørhare in Norway. It arrived in the far south-east of the country from southern Sweden, where it had been introduced. The Norwegian alien species list includes it as an undesirable species, in the « very high risk » category, because it can displace the native hare^[2][1].

It remains rare in hunting bags: a few hundred animals a year according to Statistics Norway, against more than ten thousand mountain hares^[4].

Statistics Norway (SSB) publishes the number of hares shot every year. It recorded 115,120 for the 1991-1992 season, then 19,890 in 2010-2011 and 14,310 in 2022-2023, a bag divided by eight in thirty years. Since 2023-2024, the statistics distinguish between the two species: 13,120 mountain hares and 220 brown hares were shot in 2024-2025^[4].

These figures reflect bags, not population size directly, but they point in the same direction as the mountain hare's Red List classification^[1][4].

Hare hunting with a scent hound, the harehund, is regarded as Norway's oldest sport hunting. It is said to have arrived in the 17th century with workers from the Continent, often Germans. Today the hare is hunted with hounds, by walking it up, or without a dog on fresh snow by following its tracks^[3].

Huntable species and the framework for hunting seasons are set at national level by the Norwegian Environment Agency (Miljødirektoratet) in a multi-year regulation; the one in force covers the 2022 to 2028 seasons^[5]. We do not reproduce the dates here. Hunting rights belong in principle to the landowner, under the Wildlife Act^[7].

The Nature Diversity Act prohibits introducing, without a legal basis or authorisation, species that do not occur naturally in Norway, or game of species, subspecies or populations that do not occur naturally in the district concerned^[6]. For any question, contact the Miljødirektoratet or the Statsforvalteren (county governor) for your county.

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. They are brown hares, the species classed as alien in Norway. Our guide to returning hares to the wild concerns the French context. The photos on this page show the species in its habitat and do not depict our animals.