Hares in Slovakia: a former mainstay of hunting, now a fragile lowland game species

Slovakia's hare is the brown hare (Lepus europaeus), an animal of cultivated plains and hills. Together with the pheasant and the grey partridge, it is one of the three « small game » species around which the country has organised part of its game management planning.^[4] For its biology, see our brown hare profile.

A presentation by Peter Kaštier of the Národné lesnícke centrum (National Forest Centre) in Zvolen compares the share of each group of species in venison production. Between 1924 and 1929, small game, led by the hare, accounted for 73.7% of that production; it accounted for only 12.5% over the period 1993-2003, then 8.4% in the 2009/2010 season, while ungulates rose from 22.1% to 91.6%.^[3] These figures measure relative weight in the bag, not population size; they nevertheless illustrate the shift of Slovak hunting towards big game.^[3]

The same document tracks the abundance and distribution of small game, including the hare, by district.^[3] For recent figures, the Národné lesnícke centrum publishes the national hunting statistics.

Act No. 274/2009 on hunting organises cascading planning: a national concept for the development of hunting, drawn up by the ministry with the Slovak Hunting Chamber (Slovenská poľovnícka komora) and approved by the government; concepts for each hunting region; and a ten-year plan and annual plans for each hunting ground. These plans must ensure sustainable game management and the conservation of its gene pool.^[1]

The country is divided into hunting regions (poľovné oblasti) dedicated to red deer, roe deer or small game. Hunting rights belong to the landowner and may be exercised only on land recognised as a hunting ground by the okresný úrad (district office).^[4] Decree No. 344/2009 sets, among other things, the standard game stocks for each hunting ground, calculated from spring stocks, and the hunting seasons for the whole country.^[2] These dates are national but may change: check the version of the decree in force.

In its version published in 2009, the Act reserves for the user of a hunting ground the right to introduce game into it, and makes the import of live game subject to authorisation from the ministry, with the agreement of the regional veterinary services for the species concerned.^[1] To protect the gene pool, it prohibits introducing hybrids, as well as non-native species without authorisation.^[1] Rearing hares by the user of a hunting ground for restocking purposes is not treated as keeping in captivity.^[1]

The Act has since been amended: before any project, check with the Ministry of Agriculture (Ministerstvo pôdohospodárstva a rozvoja vidieka SR), the competent okresný úrad and the veterinary services. Our general principles are set out in our guide to returning hares to the wild.

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. This page is for information only: it is neither an offer nor legal advice for Slovakia.