O

September 2020

On 17 June, with the entire country in

lockdown, Scottish Parliament made a

pivotal decision: to ban the unlicensed

culling of mountain hares, affording

them year-round protection.

In the hours that followed, Twitter was

ablaze. For some, the decision was reason

to celebrate – a landmark victory for the

conservation of an iconic animal. Others

condemned the move, arguing that, ironically,

protective status would be detrimental to

mountain hares and their wider environment.

The mountain hare is one of our most

charismatic species, famed for its winter

transformation from grey-brown to stark

white. But it is also embroiled in the bitter

controversy over the management of our

uplands – a conflict that has raged for

decades. The debate over whether mountain

hares should be controlled by certain interests

• namely, driven grouse shooting – has slowly
  gained momentum, with various arguments
  on both sides and vastly contrasting evidence
  from a diversity of sources.
  The amendment to the Scottish Animals
  and Wildlife Bill comes at a time when the
  heat being placed on driven grouse shooting
  is particularly fierce. The industry – both in
  Scotland and England – has come under fire
  for its intensive management practices, and the
  mountain hare debate is entangled with a host
  of other issues.

A mountain hare

displays its summer

pelage. Left: field

sports, such as grouse

shooting, have a long

history in Scotland.