Health status monitoring of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) for the purpose of assessment of its population size in Serbia

Abstract

In the last couple of decades the case of declining of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) populations was noted in whole Europe including Serbia. Numerous causes for this can be referred to anthropogenic impacts - landscape changes (agricultural intensification, the use of natural hare habitats by livestock for the purpose of pastures), use of pesticides, machinery and traffic, as well as home range size. Other important causes are inadequate reproduction and the level of survival due to predation (incline in golden jackal population), hunting (especially illegal hunting), variations in climate and diseases, as one of the most important cause of European brown hare population declining. As in other animals, they are etiologically divided to: viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic and other diseases. During hunting season in 2017 (October and November), a study on 46 hares (whole carcasses or eviscerated organs) from the four locations near Belgrade was conveyed. A post-mortem examination and histopathological investigations were performed and, additionally, routine bacteriology and parasitology of the gastrointestinal system were carried out. The results point to the significance of continuous health status monitoring and discovering the causes and frequency of certain conditions in free-ranging European brown hare populations. In this review paper, some health problems in hares are discussed in more details, taking into account the findings obtained in this preliminary study.