Causes of admission and outcomes of brown hare (Lepus europaeus) leverets at wildlife rescue centres in the Czech Republic

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62157124%3A16270%2F22%3A43880320" target="_blank" >RIV/62157124:16270/22:43880320 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-021-03136-w" target="_blank" >https://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-021-03136-w</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12917-021-03136-w" target="_blank" >10.1186/s12917-021-03136-w</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Causes of admission and outcomes of brown hare (Lepus europaeus) leverets at wildlife rescue centres in the Czech Republic

Original language description

Background Wildlife rescue centres care for orphaned and injured young as an integral part of their work. However, inappropriate interventions in nature can have a negative effect on the survival of young hares, especially when the care of these young is not very successful. The aim of this study was to assess the number of brown hare leverets admitted to rescue centres in the Czech Republic in the period from 2010 to 2019, the causes of their admission to rescue centres and their outcomes. Results We evaluated the number of brown hare leverets admitted to rescue centres in the Czech Republic in the period from 2010 to 2019 and the outcomes associated with their leaving these rescue centres. We found that the number of brown hare leverets admitted increased during the monitored period (rSp = 0.6364, p &lt; 0.05). The most frequent reasons for admission were the admission of orphaned young (49.15%), leverets brought needlessly (19.60%) and leverets that had been bitten by other animals (18.63%). More (p &lt; 0.05) young admitted to rescue centres died (40.76%) than were reared successfully and released back into the wild (32.40%). Leverets that had been caught needlessly or orphaned and late-born leverets survived and could be released back into the wild (38.56, 34.51 and 52%, respectively), while fatalities were recorded in most leverets bitten by another animal (65.05%) or hit in a collision with a vehicle (97.06%). Most young hares (76.92%) that were exhausted or starved at the time of admission could not be saved. Conclusions Since only a small proportion of hares in a litter survive until adulthood in the wild, young animals being found and taken needlessly to rescue centres may harm the hare population. Our results show that only around one in three healthy young hares admitted to rescue centres are reared successfully. It is, in our opinion, of fundamental importance to the protection of brown hare leverets to inform the public of this issue and prevent needless interventions into natural rearing in the wild.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

40301 - Veterinary science

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

BMC Veterinary Research

ISSN

1746-6148

e-ISSN

1746-6148

Volume of the periodical

18

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

6

Pages from-to

nestrankovano

UT code for WoS article

000742916200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

—