The number of hares in the Netherlands has been stable over the last ten years, according to the counting and shooting data from the game management units. These are hunters who ensure that the wild stock remains in balance for the government.
‘Data from 1950’
The interest group for hunters says the new Red List is poorly substantiated. “Numbers and distribution of hares and rabbits in 2019 have been compared with the estimated data for these species from 1950. There are no exact figures from that time, but on such an estimate the hare stock would have shrunk by 61 percent.”
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In other European countries there is a different count. According to the hunters, the new classification ‘vulnerable’ would not have been achieved with that counting method.
The association does add that it is not going well with the hares and rabbits everywhere in our country. “The hare population varies per area and rabbits do better on cultivated land than in the dunes or in the Wadden Sea area. But they are widespread and occur in large numbers. Their survival is not threatened.”
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The Hunters Association wants an Authority for Fauna Data to be established, which provides ‘objective and well-substantiated figures’. This authority should advise the Minister of Agriculture and Nature.
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