Hares in Ukraine: the rusak of the plains and the white hare

The State Statistics Service publishes every year, based on returns from hunting-ground users, the number of animals counted and taken^[2]. For the brown hare, it reported 1,248,500 hares counted in 2018, 1,258,700 in 2019 and 1,227,400 in 2020, with bags of 154,700, 158,400 and 155,600 animals respectively^[2]. Reported numbers thus stayed close from one year to the next, and the bag amounted to roughly one eighth of the numbers counted^[2].

The statistics service states that these data do not cover Crimea, the city of Sevastopol or part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions^[2]. These are counts made by hunting-ground users, not scientific surveys. For the biology of the species, see our brown hare profile.

According to the Red Data Book of Ukraine, the mountain hare has the status of a « rare » species^[3]. Long considered extinct in the country, or only a visitor from Russia and Belarus, it is now recorded in the north of the Sumy, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, and its presence is assumed in the neighbouring Rivne region^[3].

The Red Data Book estimates that a few hundred individuals live in Ukraine, including up to 50 in and around the Polissia Nature Reserve^[3]. It cites logging, poaching and increased fox predation as causes of decline^[3]. The species is protected in particular in Desniansko-Starohutskyi National Park and in the Polissia and Rivne nature reserves^[3].

Game management is carried out by hunting-ground users, under a contract concluded with the central executive body responsible for forestry and hunting policy^[1]. Hunting grounds are allocated by the regional councils, on the proposal of that body, for a period of at least fifteen years and a minimum area of 3,000 hectares^[1]. Regional administrations ensure that the legislation is applied and may restrict the use of hunting grounds and the practice of hunting^[1].

In Ukraine, the law itself sets, species by species, the window during which hunting is possible; the brown hare is listed together with the wild rabbit^[1]. Within that window, the exact opening and closing dates, the hunting days and the bag limits per hunter are set by each hunting-ground user, in agreement with the competent central executive body and the regional administration, and then made public^[1]. We do not reproduce the dates: check with the user of the hunting ground concerned.

The law makes the capture of game animals for settlement in new habitats subject to authorisation from the central executive body responsible for environmental protection^[1]. It also penalises the relocation, acclimatisation and crossbreeding of game animals without authorisation, as well as bringing game animals into or out of the country in breach of the rules^[1]. For any practical question, check with that body and the competent regional administration.

Our guide to returning hares to the wild points out that adding animals is no substitute for habitat or monitoring. 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.