| Woolly hare | |
|---|---|
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| Feeding inQumarlêb County,Qinghai, China | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Lepus |
| Species: | L. oiostolus |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepus oiostolus Hodgson, 1840 | |
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| Woolly hare range | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
List
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Thewoolly hare (Lepus oiostolus) is a notably thick-furredspecies ofhare found in themontane grasslands of western and centralChina, northernIndia, andNepal. It has a wide range and is present in some protected areas but is a generally uncommon species. TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as aleast-concern species, though it is consideredendangered in India.
The woolly hare was described in 1840 under thescientific nameLepus oiostolus by the British zoologistBrian Houghton Hodgson.[3] The species nameoiostolus is reminiscent of theAncient Greekοὖλος (oûlos), meaning'woolly'.[4]
Severalsubspecies of the woolly hare have been described, though many have been discounted by later species accounts. After Hodgson's 1940 description of the woolly hare (thenominate subspecies),[2] he wrote an account of the speciesLepus pallipes two years later, which would later be considered as the subspeciesL. o. pallipes.[5] Another species,Lepus hypsibius, was described in 1875 byWilliam Thomas Blanford; he would reconsider this species, as well asLepus pallipes, to be varieties of the woolly hare in 1898.[6] Two subspecies—L. o. kozlovi andL. o. przewalskii—were described in 1907 byKonstantin Satunin as distinct species in thehare genusLepus. Another subspecies,L. o. grahami, was described in 1928 byAlfred Brazier Howell (asLepus grahami).[2] The woolly hare'ssystematics were clarified by Guiquan Cai and Zuojian Feng in 1982, when they noted the distinguishing characteristics of each woolly hare subspecies and added two new names,L. o. qinghaiensis andL. o. qusongensis.[7] The species'subgenus is eitherProeulagus, according to A. A. Gureev, orEulagos, according to Alexander Averianov.[5] TheYunnan hare (Lepus comus), also part ofEulagos, was once a subspecies of the woolly hare. Studies on the ecology and physical characteristics of the Yunnan hare led to its classification as a separate species in the 1980s.[8]
The third edition ofMammal Species of the World, published in 2005, reworked the woolly hare's systematics and placed it into four subspecies:[5]
A common characteristic between the various subspecies was that they were largely based on external characteristics, and little molecular analysis had been done to clarify differences between them. Additionally, it was unclear if there were any differences in geographic distribution between the subspecies. A 2016 species account noted that each subspecies was apparently present throughout the species' continuousdistribution and that distinctions between them may be unreasonable.[9] Two years later, another account was published that did not recognize any subspecies;[10] this was maintained in the 2019International Union for Conservation of Nature assessment of the species.[1]
The woolly hare is a medium- to large-sized hare. It has a head-body length of 40 to 58 centimetres (16 to 23 in), an average weight of 2.4 to 3 kilograms (5.3 to 6.6 lb) ears that measure from 11 to 16 cm (4.3 to 6.3 in), and hind feet roughly 10 to 14 cm (3.9 to 5.5 in) long. It has whitish rings around the eyes.[9] Its thick and soft fur varies widely in colour across its distribution, from sandy yellow to light brown. Its fur is especially long and curly, having a woolly appearance, which gives the hare its name. Compared to the hare's back and rump areas, the fur on its underside and near the hips is lighter in color.[10] Its abdominal fur is mostly white, and can have a light brown line along the mid-ventral line. The hare's tail is white above and below, except for a brown-gray narrow stripe on the dorsal surface, and measures roughly 6.5 to 12.5 cm (2.6 to 4.9 in) in length.[9] Its muzzle is elongated and narrow, and its fur coat is moulted just once a year.[11][7]
The woolly hare is native to Central Asia. Its range extends from northern Nepal, andJammu and Kashmir andSikkim in India, to western and central China, where it is present in the provinces ofGansu,Qinghai,Sichuan,Tibet,Xinjiang andYunnan. The habitat of this hare is mainly high altitude grasslands of several types; Alpine meadows, shrubby meadows and upland cold deserts, but it also occurs in coniferous or mixed montane woodland. Its altitudinal range is from 3,000 to 5,300 m (9,800 to 17,400 ft) above sea level.[1][11]
The woolly hare is a shy and usually solitary animal, and although sometimes active by day, it is mostlynocturnal. It feeds on grasses and herbs, with individual animals returning regularly at night to the same foraging areas. During the day it sometimes rests in the sun in a sheltered position. The breeding season starts in April, with two litters of between four and six young being produced each year.[11]
The woolly hare has a wide range but is a generally uncommon species, and its population is described as "very low except in a few favoured areas". It is hunted for its meat and fur, and in some areas suitable habitat is being destroyed, resulting in fragmenting of populations and the inability of individuals to make local migrations. In Nepal and China it is present in some protected areas. TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being aleast-concern species, though in India it is consideredendangered.[1] The species'genome was sequenced in 2024.[12]
