Will the greens pull the plug?

[J70]

J70,

Honest questions deserve an honest answer and I will give them as best I can.

The Brown Hare, this is imo, is thriving in West Tyrone not far from where it was originally introduced on the Baronscourt Estate. The Irish Hare is not in such great health, partly due to the changes you have mentioned in your post but definetly also due to the annual ban on coursing in the North. This has been discussed in detail with Neil Reid and Ian Montgomery but no conclusions can be made as a study based on that assertion has not been carried out and is unlikely to be. However, my own opinion is based on the comparison with the south where the Irish Hare is in a much better shape. The Irish Park Wardens annual report would also back this line of thinking.

Regarding your other questions.

98% of captured hares are returned to their habitat after coursing, you may think this is a high figure but it is the figure that the Quercus group arrived at after their most recent study.

To date no follow up studies have been carried out on survival after release. They only reasonably accurate way of doing this would be a tagging system that all parties thing wouldnt be the best of ideas due to the physiology of the hare.

Thank you. It appears that you're working with the scientists on this, which can only be a good thing. Is the brown hare protected in the north? As a non-native species, which is potentially having an adverse impact on the native mountain hare, I can't see it being considered of much conservation value.

[oakleafgael]

J70,

Honest questions deserve an honest answer and I will give them as best I can.

The Brown Hare, this is imo, is thriving in West Tyrone not far from where it was originally introduced on the Baronscourt Estate. The Irish Hare is not in such great health, partly due to the changes you have mentioned in your post but definetly also due to the annual ban on coursing in the North. This has been discussed in detail with Neil Reid and Ian Montgomery but no conclusions can be made as a study based on that assertion has not been carried out and is unlikely to be. However, my own opinion is based on the comparison with the south where the Irish Hare is in a much better shape. The Irish Park Wardens annual report would also back this line of thinking.

Regarding your other questions.

98% of captured hares are returned to their habitat after coursing, you may think this is a high figure but it is the figure that the Quercus group arrived at after their most recent study.

To date no follow up studies have been carried out on survival after release. They only reasonably accurate way of doing this would be a tagging system that all parties thing wouldnt be the best of ideas due to the physiology of the hare.

Thank you. It appears that you're working with the scientists on this, which can only be a good thing. Is the brown hare protected in the north? As a non-native species, which is potentially having an adverse impact on the native mountain hare, I can't see it being considered of much conservation value.

J70,

I would be in favour of a complete cull of the Brown Hare, its not protected. Its highly unlikely to be permitted for political reasons but it has no ecological value and hybridisation is a very real threat. The Irish Hare is one of very very few pure native Irish species and should be celebrated as such. Just as a slight correction, the Irish Hare is very different from the Mountain Hare found in the UK which makes it all the more special. What anti courisng supporters fail to take into account is the esteem that coursing followers have for the hare.

[J70]

J70,

Honest questions deserve an honest answer and I will give them as best I can.

The Brown Hare, this is imo, is thriving in West Tyrone not far from where it was originally introduced on the Baronscourt Estate. The Irish Hare is not in such great health, partly due to the changes you have mentioned in your post but definetly also due to the annual ban on coursing in the North. This has been discussed in detail with Neil Reid and Ian Montgomery but no conclusions can be made as a study based on that assertion has not been carried out and is unlikely to be. However, my own opinion is based on the comparison with the south where the Irish Hare is in a much better shape. The Irish Park Wardens annual report would also back this line of thinking.

Regarding your other questions.

98% of captured hares are returned to their habitat after coursing, you may think this is a high figure but it is the figure that the Quercus group arrived at after their most recent study.

To date no follow up studies have been carried out on survival after release. They only reasonably accurate way of doing this would be a tagging system that all parties thing wouldnt be the best of ideas due to the physiology of the hare.

Thank you. It appears that you're working with the scientists on this, which can only be a good thing. Is the brown hare protected in the north? As a non-native species, which is potentially having an adverse impact on the native mountain hare, I can't see it being considered of much conservation value.

J70,

I would be in favour of a complete cull of the Brown Hare, its not protected. Its highly unlikely to be permitted for political reasons but it has no ecological value and hybridisation is a very real threat. The Irish Hare is one of very very few pure native Irish species and should be celebrated as such. Just as a slight correction, the Irish Hare is very different from the Mountain Hare found in the UK which makes it all the more special. What anti courisng supporters fail to take into account is the esteem that coursing followers have for the hare.

Well it is still a mountain hare, Lepus timidus, although it is considered a distinct subspecies, endemic to Ireland. Unless its taxonomy has been reviewed and it is now considered a distinct species? (I have not been keeping up on Irish wildlife as well as I should since moving to the states a few years ago)

Regarding the cull, yes that would be difficult with a furry, charismatic species such as a hare e.g. the uproar over the current hedgehog cull in the Hebrides. But, people need to be educated that sometimes a greater conservation good has to be served and that hunting and culls are often a necessary evil. Its happened in Ireland before with the campaign in the early thirties that lead to the extermination of the muskrat, which has established a wild, breeding population in the Lough Derg region of Tipperary after a few individuals escaped from fur farms, although I don't think, given the times and the fact that the animal in question looks like a very large rat that much objection was raised!

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Are there any plans to cull the Eastern Grey Squirrel, as far as I understand it has made it into most counties East of the Shannon.

[J70]

Are there any plans to cull the Eastern Grey Squirrel, as far as I understand it has made it into most counties East of the Shannon.

A UCD group had been doing experimental culls in the Phoenix Park with a view to exterminating them there and reintroducing the reds. Not sure of the status of that project at the moment though. I think it would be a fairly unrealistic challenge to eradicate them nationwide at this point, although I suppose it would be possible over an extended period.