Cape Hare
About Cape Hare
Cape hares have a slender body with a bushy tail. The oval-shaped head has very long (12 to 14 cm), black-tipped ears and large, reddish-brown eyes. This species also has very long and powerful hind legs. It has ginger-brown fur with shades of black on the upper parts, a more ginger-colored breast and sides, with white inner sides of the legs and belly, and reddish-gray hair on the nape of the neck.
Cape Hare features
Habitat and ecology
This species is found in open land, such as meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, sandy moors, and marshes, close to hedges, thickets, and forests. Depending on availability of grass or shrubs it may either graze or browse. Hares re-ingest soft faecal pellets directly from the anus during their rest periods in the day, and excrete hard pellets during nocturnal feeding. Cape hares are primarily herbivorous. Their diet includes herbaceous plants, cereals, berries, vegetables, and some fungi, such as mushrooms.
Threats
Agricultural activities, roads, recreational activities, illegal hunting
- Common name
- Cape Hare
- Status
- Least concern
- Habitat
- Cold high mountains
- Breeding season
- January – junes
- Tail length
- 10 cm – 20 cm
- Length
- 520 mm – 595 mm
- Weight
- 4 kg – 5 kg
- Age
- 5 to 12 years
Cape Hare in Gilgit-Baltistan
