There are growing fears for the future of the Irish Hare today after an announcement by the Minister for Arts and Heritage, Josepha Madigan, that a deadly, easily-spread virus which kills rabbits and hares has been identified in Ireland for the first time ever. The disease, her department has warned, could prove CATASTROPHIC to the Irish Hare.
In a tweet, Minister Madigan stated: “RHD [Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease] - a disease fatal to rabbits and hares, but of no risk to humans, has been confirmed in the wild in Ireland for the first time. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has decided to suspend the licences issued to the Irish Coursing Club with immediate effect. Report any suspected cases to NPWS.”
A statement on the Department’s website confirms that rabbits and a hare have been found infected with the virus - “the disease was reported in Ireland from domestic rabbits in 2018, but has now been confirmed in the wild from a rabbit in Co. Wicklow and another in Co. Clare. Today, the virus has been confirmed from a hare in Co. Wexford. In all cases individual animals were tested at Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine Laboratories where RHD2 was subsequently confirmed. While all three locations continue to support apparently healthy wild populations, unlike the situation in the UK where mass mortalities have been reported, NPWS Conservation Rangers continue to monitor the situation.”
The Department’s statement describes the horrific consequences of the disease for affected animals - “It causes death within a few days of infection with sick animals having swollen eyelids, partial paralysis and bleeding from the eyes and mouth. Most distressingly, in the latter states close to death, animals exhibit unusual behaviour emerging from cover into the open and convulsing or fitting before dying.”
The virus has been detected throughout Europe in wild rabbits and hares.
The Department warns that the disease could prove “catastrophic” for the Irish Hare - “The Irish hare is native to Ireland and found nowhere else and should this disease prove as infectious and lethal here as it has done elsewhere in Europe, the impact on the hare could be catastrophic.”
It adds “the Department has decided to suspend the licences issued to the Irish Coursing Club to capture and tag hares for the 2019/20 hare coursing season with immediate effect until a clearer understanding of the extent, spread and implications of the RHD2 virus emerges”.
The identification of this deadly disease must mean a PERMANENT END to all hare coursing and hare hunting activities in Ireland.
It is inconceivable that Minister Madigan or any future Minister would issue any further licences to coursing clubs, given the fact that this is known to be a highly infectious disease and coursing involves netting thousands of hares and holding them in enclosures for weeks or months before they are forced to run for their lives.
Shame on Minister Madigan and the Department of Arts and Heritage for issuing the now-suspended 2019-2020 coursing licence. They ignored appeals from ICABS to act to protect the Irish Hare from persecution in light of warnings from wildlife experts that the species is “in trouble” with numbers declining. When RHD disease was highlighted last year, we appealed to Minister Madigan and her department to apply the precautionary principle and stop licensing coursing. This was shamefully ignored.
ACTION ALERT
Contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister Josepha Madigan and urge them to announce a total and permanent end to all hare coursing and hare hunting in Ireland.
Email "Permanently end cruel hare coursing NOW" to josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: @LeoVaradkar
Leave a comment on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Josepha Madigan
Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://facebook.com/JosephaMadiganFG
Tweet to: @josephamadigan
DEPARTMENT’S STATEMENT
Deadly Disease found in Irish hares and rabbits – public asked to report any sightings as Irish Coursing Club Licences suspended with immediate effect
09/08/19
A disease fatal to rabbits and hares, but of no risk to humans, has been confirmed in the wild in Ireland for the first time. The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is asking the public to report any suspected cases.
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) was first reported in domestic (farmed) rabbits in China in 1984 killing millions of animals within one year of its discovery. By 1986 this viral disease had been found in continental Europe and has since spread globally leading to significant mortality in wild populations of rabbits.
In 2010, a new more virulent strain of this virus (RHD2) emerged in France. It causes death within a few days of infection with sick animals having swollen eyelids, partial paralysis and bleeding from the eyes and mouth. Most distressingly, in the latter states close to death, animals exhibit unusual behavior emerging from cover into the open and convulsing or fitting before dying.
The disease was reported in Ireland from domestic rabbits in 2018, but has now been confirmed in the wild from a rabbit in Co. Wicklow and another in Co. Clare. Today, the virus has been confirmed from a hare in Co. Wexford. In all cases individual animals were tested at Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine Laboratories where RHD2 was subsequently confirmed. While all three locations continue to support apparently healthy wild populations, unlike the situation in the UK where mass mortalities have been reported, NPWS Conservation Rangers continue to monitor the situation.
The virus has been detected throughout Europe, in wild rabbits, hares and seemingly unrelated species including voles and shrews. The Irish hare is native to Ireland and found nowhere else and should this disease prove as infectious and lethal here as it has done elsewhere in Europe, the impact on the hare could be catastrophic.
Dr. Ferdia Marnell of the NPWS Scientific Unit outlined his concerns: “Rabbits are central to wild ecosystems, being the main food for many predators from stoats to eagles that in turn regulate other animal populations. A decline in our wild rabbits will have numerous knock-on consequences. Of further concern is the potential for the disease to spread through the Irish hare population.”
The disease is highly contagious and can be spread directly between animals and in the faeces and urine of infected animals, as well as by insects and on human clothing. In addition the incubation period may last several days and apparently uninfected animals may in fact be carriers. Under these circumstances the catching of hares in nets, their transportation in boxes and the collection and holding of hares in confined areas can all be considered to increase the risk of disease spread
Accordingly the Department has decided to suspend the licences issued to the Irish Coursing Club to capture and tag hares for the 2019/20 hare coursing season with immediate effect until a clearer understanding of the extent, spread and implications of the RHD2 virus emerges.
Dr. Marnell stressed “that the Rabbit Haemorrhagic disease presents absolutely no threat to human health and it is entirely safe to handle infected or recently dead rabbits or hares provided normal hygiene is followed”.
The public – particularly landowners, farmers, vets and the hare coursing community – is being asked to be on high alert and to report any suspected sightings of diseased rabbits and hares as soon as possible to help efforts to monitor and control the disease.
This can be done by contacting the NPWS by Email (nature.conservation@chg.gov.ie.) or Phone (1890 383 000).
Dr Neil Reid, a Conservation Biologist at Queen’s University Belfast, who is also tracking the disease across the island warns of the significant impact this could have on the wild ecosystem. He said “I am asking people to be on high alert, to report any suspected sightings of diseased rabbits and, particularly hares, as soon as possible so we can monitor this rapidly developing situation as it unfolds. This is an example of how citizen science can really contribute to conservation biology.”
https://www.chg.gov.ie/deadly-disease-found-in-irish-hares-and-rabbits-public-asked-to-report-any-sightings-irish-coursing-club-licences-suspended-with-immediate-effect/