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The Minister for Heritage has said that “there are no plans at present” to review the Open Seasons Order. The order allows coursers to net thousands of hares from the wild for use as live bait for greyhounds to chase and also facilitates the hunting and shooting of hares.
Minister Darragh O'Brien was responding to a Dail Question from Mick Barry TD who asked “if given the biodiversity crisis, the pressure on the Irish hare and due to animal welfare issues, if he will refuse to issue 2023-2024 hare coursing licences and remove the species from the Open Season Order.”
Minister O'Brien confirmed that he is currently “considering the application from the Irish Coursing Club in relation to the 2023/24 open season and a decision will issue in due course.”
Please scroll down for our urgent action alert and contact Minister O'Brien today to urge him to refuse the licence.
The Minister maintained that the Irish Hare is “widespread and common in Ireland” and that “the species is considered to be in favourable conservation status”.
However, in a recent submission to Minister O'Brien, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports challenged the categorisation of the Irish Hare as “favourable” and its population status as “of least concern”.
The most recent population survey - National Hare Survey & Population Assessment 2017-2019 - estimated the national Irish Hare population to be 223,000 (“with a 95% probability that the number is between 111,000 and 449,000”) but conceded that it could be as low as 60,000.
Despite the high estimate of 223,000, those carrying out the survey only detected 229 hares in the pilot study (March to May 2018) and 253 hares during the full survey (November 2018 to February 2019) with the latter sightings made in just 44 x 1 kilometre squares around the country (out of a total national area of 70,000 square kilometres).
This raises questions about the conclusion that this suggests a highly widespread common distribution. Regardless of extrapolation techniques, references to hare population fluctuations and the claim that the 44 kilometre squares were “statistically representative of the country’s overall habitat composition”, 253 observed hares is a long way away from 223,000.
This survey worryingly found that the latest 2018-19 average hare density estimate of 3.19 hares per km2 was 58% lower than the 7.44 hares per km2 density estimated during 2007. The most recent estimates ranged from 3.5 hares per km2 in the northwest down to just 2.6 hares per km2 in the east of the country.
This does not tally with the Department of Heritage's claim that the results of the survey “suggests that the population remains stable”.
In 2018 (before the survey was carried out), one of the authors of the survey report – Dr Karina Dingerkus – spoke about the general decline of hares on RTE Radio 1’s Mooney Goes Wild show. Programme presenter Derek Mooney told listeners that while hares are thriving at Dublin Airport, “their numbers elsewhere around the country are dwindling”. Speaking on the show, ecologist Dr Dingerkus said that “over the last 50 years, numbers have declined significantly.” “We know that hare populations do fluctuate naturally but we don’t know by how much,” Dr Dingerkus stated. “We certainly know that numbers have declined.” Later in the programme, she added: “We don’t see very many...Certainly over the past 50 years, we know numbers have dropped dramatically...they’re in trouble...we do know that they have been dropping over a long period of time.”
More recently, in a 11 May 2023 webinar, Dr Dingerkus again noted the decline of hares, saying "It looks like hare populations - not just Irish hare populations - but populations in Britain and across Europe - have declined considerably and were much larger in the mid-19th to early 20th century than they are today." https://youtu.be/M0TIDOr1GwM
In the "Threats to Hares" section of the presentation, she stated: "even though they are legally protected, they are still classed as a game or quarry species so they can be hunted under licence and they can also be captured for use in coursing. The coursing events are licensed but there are also people who will go out with lurchers..." The threat of hunting and coursing is acknowledged in a presentation slide - under the heading "Threats to Hares", it is stated "hares may be hunted under licence during the open season. Under licence, hares are also captured for coursing..." https://youtu.be/M0TIDOr1GwM?t=1965
Speaking about RHD2 and other diseases, Dr Dingerkus added: "In years gone by, coursing clubs and others would have brought hares from different countries and they'd have brought them into Ireland. And when you move animals about, there's a big risk of moving those diseases and our hares wouldn't have a natural immunity for those diseases." https://youtu.be/M0TIDOr1GwM?t=2553
Meanwhile, the Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage’s Wild Nephin National Park website states: “Hare populations can vary dramatically from year to year but it is believed that there has been a long-term decline overall”
https://wildnephinnationalpark.ie/explore/wildlife/noteworthy-species/
The last count for the "National Hare Survey & Population Assessment 2017-2019" was carried out in February 2019, i.e. over four years ago. Therefore, even if one was to accept the "favourable status" assessment at the time, it cannot be assumed that the situation has not worsened for the Irish Hare in the following 52 months.
The latest estimate of 223,000 is less than half of a previous estimate. Writing in Biodiversity Ireland magazine (Autumn/Winter 2018), Dr Neil Reid noted that "the last All-Ireland population estimate suggested there were approximately 500,000 hares in Ireland during 2007, which remained widespread."
In his reply to Deputy Mick Barry, Minister O'Brien referred to the Red Data List for Mammals in Ireland (2019) which he said “confirmed that the species is not threatened; it assessed the Irish hare as 'least concern'.”
This Red Data List document actually acknowledges fears about the negative affect coursing has on the species, stating that "concerns about...the impacts of coursing are likely to continue to generate interest in the species."
The assessment of the Irish Hare as a species of least concern is highly questionable.
Alongside the hare in the document's stated list of species of "least concern" are species who - like the hare - have uncertainty around their numbers, e.g. pine marten ("the population is THOUGHT TO BE increasing - most recently estimated at 3,000"), Irish stoat ("no population estimate available for Ireland), rabbit ("no population estimate available for Ireland") and red deer ("no national census is available"). Hedgehog, otter and badger are also presented as species of "least concern". However, the population estimate given for badgers is based on a study carried out a decade earlier.
In relation to otter, the report states that "the decline of the otter has been charted by large scale national surveys. The most recent report (Reid et al. 2013) SUGGESTS the species is in recovery after a previous decline".
The hedgehog is also listed as being of least concern but, elsewhere, the National Biodiversity Data Centre states: "there is a dearth of information on its status in Ireland".
"Studies from Britain and elsewhere in Europe have found that hedgehog numbers are in steep decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation from changing farming practices and development," it adds. "As the environment in Ireland is experiencing similar pressures, the hedgehog population in Ireland may be similarly affected."
The explanation for classifying the Irish Hare as "least concern" is given in the report as "widespread distribution and large population". As stated previously, the last population study based its 223,000 population estimate on sightings of just 253 hares.
The Red Data List includes as threats to the species the emergence of the deadly and highly contagious RHD2 virus - "confirmation in mid-2019 of RHD2 in Irish hares presents a new concern".
With the NPWS confirming that coursing activities pose a significant risk in the spread of RHD2, and with uncertainty over the current population status in the government-declared biodiversity emergency, the Precautionary Principle must be applied and all coursing activities stopped.
This would be welcomed by the 77% majority in Ireland who want coursing banned (just 9% disagree with a ban) and the Irish Hare spared the cruelty of this shameful bloodsport.
URGENT ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan. Email "Please refuse 2023-24 licences for cruel hare coursing" to: minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie [Please scroll down for sample letter to send].
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Leave a message on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Tweet to Minister O'Brien: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; pippa.hackett@oireachtas.ie
(CC: Green Party Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture)
Leave a message on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Tweet to Minister of State Noonan: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the sample letter below)
Dear Ministers O'Brien and Noonan,
I am writing to ask you to please REFUSE licences for another season of cruel hare coursing.
The licences would allow coursers to net thousands of hares from the wild, transport them in boxes to coursing compounds, manhandle them, hold them in captivity for weeks/months and eventually force them to run for their lives in front of greyhounds.
All the hares suffer fear and stress and, despite the muzzling of the dogs, hares are injured and killed every coursing season when they are caught and mauled. Among the injuries documented are broken back, spinal injury, broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.
Hares suffer at all stages – during capture, while held captive and at the coursing meetings where they can be seen desperately running as a merciless mob cheer the greyhounds on and gamble on which dog will force the hare to change direction first. Coursing compromises the welfare of hares and those who survive the ordeal remain at risk of dying from stress-related capture myopathy in the days and weeks after they are released back to the wild.
There is also the very worrying issue of disease spread among hares when they are forced together in unnatural high density. The National Parks and Wildlife Service division of your Department has made it clear that "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". In relation to the highly contagious RHD2 virus, the NPWS has stated that "if one infected animal is found in netting for a coursing meeting, then the entire capture would need to be put down."
Minister, as you have previously observed, “hares are a protected species and are better off being in the wild rather than being held in captivity in large groups [in coursing enclosures]”. Your colleague, Minister of State Malcolm Noonan, has in the past condemned coursing, saying the suffering inflicted on hares “highlights a shocking disregard for the welfare of the animals”. In 2020, he stated: “We all want to see hare coursing ended - it's a cruel practice.”
With the suffering, stress, injury and death caused to hares at coursing meetings, there should be no hesitation in finally ending this shameful activity by refusing 2023-24 licences. This would be widely welcomed by the 77% majority of Irish citizens who want coursing banned (just 9% disagree with a ban. Source: RED C poll).
Ireland is in the middle of a biodiversity crisis and it’s time for the iconic Irish Hare to be given full protection and allowed to live free from persecution. Please refuse the licences as a step towards a long overdue ban on coursing.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Address]
With a RED C opinion poll confirming that a 77 per cent majority of citizens want hare coursing banned (with just 9% disagreeing with a ban), it is now time for politicians to consign this nasty bloodsport to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to act to ensure that a ban is urgently introduced. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33