Lepus habessinicus

Geographic Range

Lepus habessinicus is confined to East Africa. It is known from Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, and may be found in northern Kenya (Flux and Angermann, 1990; Smith and Johnson, 2008).

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian ethiopian
  • native native

Habitat

Abyssinian hares replace Cape hares in open grassland, steppe, savanna, and desert environments. Small shrubs are used for shade and protection from predators during the day (Flux and Angermann, 1990). Abyssinian hares range in elevation from sea level to 2,500 meters (Yalden et al., 1996; Smith and Johnson, 2008).

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• desert or dune desert or dune
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural agricultural

Physical Description

Abyssinian hares are medium-sized hares, with a body length of 440 to 450 mm, hind feet measure 105 to 110 mm, and ears range in length from 105 to 115 mm (Azzaroli-Puccetti, 1987). In northern Somalia, these hares have fur that is thin and soft and the tail is white underneath and black on the dorsal side. Abyssinian hares are uniformly gray on the shoulders and thighs, with black on the rump, and a white belly with a light buff coloring up on the sides. The front and back legs, as well as the neck, are also buff colored mixed with grey. Long hairs are found throughout the normal coat (Azzaroli-Puccetti, 1987). Abyssinian hares seen in Ethiopia are slightly lighter than those of northern Somalia. They are darker on top of their body with a dark patch on the forehead. The rest of the body is consistently gray from the shoulders to the rump. Ears are grey with black on the tips with white hairs. The whiskers grow to 10 cm long and are mostly white with black at the base (Azzaroli-Puccetti, 1987).

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

Reproduction

There is little known or reported on the reproductive habits of Abyssinian hares. They are thought to mate at night, like Cape hares (Flux and Angermann, 1990; Hoffman and Smith, 2005). Like most lagormorphs , Abyssinian hares are polygynandrous; males and females both have multiple mates.

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous) polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Little is known about mating behavior in Abyssinian hares, but they are likely similar to Cape hares (Flux and Angermann, 1990). Cape hares produces 8 litters a year. Near the equator breeding is continuous and litter size varies with seasonal rainfall (Flux, 1981). Most hares display competitive mating behavior, "boxing" is observed between males and females and between male rivals before copulation (Chapman and Flux, 1990). Male hares then chase females in a zigzag pattern. If a female (who is dominant in this situation) accepts the male after the chase, copulation will occur (Chapman and Flux, 1990). Hares give birth to young that are fully furred, with open eyes, and that are ready to move within minutes (Flux and Angermann, 1990).

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• year-round breeding year-round breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

Like most hares , Abyssinian hares have little post-birth parental investment. Males play no role in raising young. Females take care of the young, which are born with fur and their eyes already open. Mother hares have very rich milk and only return once a day to feed their young for a short period, a technique known as 'absentee parenting' (Flux and Angermann, 1990; Chapman and Flux, 2008). Hares are weaned within 39 days of being born.

• Parental Investment
• precocial precocial
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

Little is known about lifespan in Abyssinian hares. Some hare species are known to live 10 to 13 years in captivity ( Japanese hares and European hares ), or as many as 18 years in the wild ( mountain hares ). Hares have high breeding rates. This suggests that many individuals generally don't live long in the wild because of they are often prey for other species, resulting in up to 90% mortality within a given year (Chapman and Flux, 2008).

Behavior

Behavior of Abyssinian hares has not been well-studied, but is considered similar to Cape hares (Flux and Angermann, 1990) in being silent, solitary, and nocturnal. They feed at night and can travel widely, especially in pursuit of food. This behavior aids in the transport of plant seeds to other areas. Hares display ownership of a food source by stockpiling grass and then protecting the food from other hares or by guarding a female during mating (Holley, 1986). Abyssinian hares may also be similar to Cape hares in terms of sociality; out of 800 Cape hares only four groups were of observed, each consisting of three individuals (Flux and Angermann, 1990).

• Key Behaviors
• cursorial
• terricolous
• saltatorial saltatorial
• nocturnal nocturnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• solitary solitary

Home Range

Home range size of Abyssinian hares is not reported.

Communication and Perception

Hares are solitary and silent animals and tend to use their hearing rather than their sight to perceive their environment (Flux and Angermann, 1990). Abyssinian hares communicate, like most hares, with grunts or screams. Female Abyssinian hares use 'grunting' to call for their young. A high pitched scream can also be heard when they are caught by a predator (Chapman and Flux, 2008).

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• acoustic acoustic

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Abyssinian hares are herbivorous, they eat many types of vegetation including grasses, shrubs, and forbs found in their savanna, grassland, steppe, valley floor, and cultivated agricultural land habitats (Flux and Angermann, 1990).

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore
  • granivore granivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• flowers

Predation

Abyssinian hares use vegetation, such as shrubs, to hide from predators (Flux and Angermann, 1990). Hares feed at night, using their hearing to avoid predators. To avoid predation, they may: 1) sneak into thick vegetation or brush or 2) freeze in place to reduce visibility (Chapman and Flux, 1990). Specific predator species are not reported, but they may be taken by large raptors, canids , or snakes throughout their range.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

Hares can replace each other easily if the ecological conditions are right. For example, Abyssinian hares replace Cape hares in the open grassland, steppe, savanna, and desert environments of East Africa (Flux and Angermann, 1990). In addition to being an important prey source and dispersing seeds, they can reverse the natural downhill flow of nutrients in a ecosystem by eating on the valley floor and defecating as they travel uphill (Flux and Angerman, 1990). Similar to Cape hares , Abyssinian hares prefer pasture that has been overgrazed by livestock and land where fires have burned the vegetation, resulting in new growth. These human activities have extended the range of these hares significantly (Flux and Angerman, 1990).

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Abyssinian hares can be a source of food and fur for humans.

• Positive Impacts
• food food
• body parts are source of valuable material

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Abyssinian hare ranges are thought to be expanding due to human activities, such as overgrazing of pastures by domesticated livestock (Flux and Angermann, 1990). Hares also can be a nuisance in agricultural fields by eating and destroying crops, although the economic significance of this is unknown (Chapman and Flux, 2008).

Conservation Status

Abyssinian hares are considered "least concern" by the IUCN because of their large range and abundance.

Other Comments

Some authors consider Lepus habessinicus a subspecies of Lepus capensis .

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Ashley Nickolai (author), University of Wyoming, Hayley Lanier (editor), University of Wyoming - Casper, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

Azzaroli-Puccetti, M. 1987. The systematic relationships of hares (genus Lepus ) of the Horn of Africa. Cimbebasia , 9/1: 1-22.

Chapman, J., J. Flux. 1990. Introduction and overview of the Lagomorphs. Pp. 1-6 in Rabbits, Hares and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan . Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Chapman, J., J. Flux. 2008. Introduction to the Lagomorpha. Pp. 1-9 in Lagomorph Biology: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation 1-9 . Springer Berlin Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Accessed November 07, 2013 at http://link.springer.com.libproxy.uwyo.edu/book/10.1007%2F978-3-540-72446-9 .

Flux, J., R. Angermann. 1990. The hares and jackrabbits. Pp. 61-94 in Rabbits, Hares and Pikas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan . Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation.

Flux, J. 1981. Reproductive strategies in the genus Lepus . Pp. 155-174 in Proceedings of the World Lagomorph Conference . Guelph: University of Guelph.

Hoffmann, R., A. Smith. 2005. Lagomorphs. Pp. 185-211 in Mammal Species of the World, 3rd Edition . John Hopkins University Press: John Hopkins University Press.

Holley, A. 1986. A hierarchy of hares: dominance status and access to oestrous does. Mammal Review , 16: 181-186.

Smith, A., C. Johnson. 2008. " Lepus habessinicus " (On-line). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Accessed November 04, 2013 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/41289/0 .

Yalden, D., M. Largen, D. Kock, J. Hillman. 1996. Catalogue of the mammals of Ethiopia and Eritrea. 7. Revised checklist, zoogeography and conservation. Tropical Zoology , 9: 73-164. Accessed November 22, 2013 at http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/X_Y_and_Z/Yalden_et_al_1996_Mammals_of_Ethiopia_and_Eritrea_Revised_checklist.pdf .

2009. " Lepus capensis " (On-line). Human Aging Genomic Resources. Accessed November 29, 2013 at http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Lepus_capensis .