INDIAN HARE
DESCRIPTION: The characteristic hare of the
Indian Subcontinent, the Indian Hare is reddish brown with black hair mixed
throughout its face and dorsal parts. It has whitish underparts. The hare has
long, ovate ears, with clear venation that stands out against the thin skin of
the ears. The legs are long, with the hind legs being longer than the forelegs.
females are larger than males. L.n. ruficaudatus of northern India has a rufous
tail and a dark brown patch on its nape. The nominate subspecies – L.n.
nigricollis – in southern India is larger with a black patch on the back of its
neck, and its tail is black on top. In the arid and desert regions of the west,
L.n. dayanus is paler and sandy yellow in colour.
BEHAVIOUR: A very territorial hare, it
defends up to 100,000 sq. m of land against rival males. They use several
shelters every day, these ‘forms’ being changed even at different times of the
day. The hare is generally crepuscular to nocturnal and shy even though common
throughout the country.
DISTRIBUTION: The species is found from the
foothills of the Himalayas through peninsular and north–east India (except the
Sunderbans, West Bengal). The subspecific distribution is unclear, but broadly
follows: L.n. nigricollis in southern India; L.n. ruficaudatus in northern and
central India; and L.n. dayanus in arid parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
HABITAT: Open scrub, short, grassy patches and overgrazed forest land except high altitudes and mangroves (up to 2,400 m in the Himalayas, 2,000 m in the Western Ghats). It is replaced by the Woolly Hare and the desert Hare in the Himalayas at higher altitudes. Where it is conspecific with the Hispid Hare, e.g., at Manas NP, Assam, it prefers more open habitat to the dense grassland habitat of the latter.
Size: 33–53 cm
IUCN Status: Least Concern
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