Protection for mountain hares welcomed

Bob Elliot

Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone lodged an amendment to the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Bill only last week.

Once the bill becomes law, the mountain hare will be added to Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, as it extends to Scotland, and it will be an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take a mountain hare without a specific licence.

Mountain hares are currently persecuted in mass scale culls by the driven grouse shooting industry, with around 26,000 mountain hares being killed in Scotland each year.

OneKind director Bob Elliot said: “This is a triumph for one of the Scottish Parliament’s hare champions, Alison Johnstone, and also underlines the willingness of a minister to listen to public opinion on the status of this cherished species.

“As soon as it became possible for Alison to lodge her amendment, the upsurge in public support has been momentous. OneKind is delighted to have been part of this and to see a successful conclusion to one of our most heartfelt campaigns to end the mass scale mountain hare killings.

“Different reasons given by the grouse shooting industry for the supposed need to control mountain hares, such as the prevention of louping ill, a disease carried by ticks, have been successively discounted, and animal welfare has taken precedence.”