Chinese hare


The Chinese hare is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is found in China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Taxonomy

The Chinese hare was first described by John Edward Gray in 1832. The Korean hare was at one time considered to be a subspecies of the Chinese hare but molecular studies of mtDNA have since shown that the Korean hare is in fact a separate species.

Description

The Chinese hare is a small species growing to a length of about and a weight of with the females being rather larger than the males. The fur is short and coarse, the back and chest being chestnut-brown and the belly whitish. The large hind feet are furred, the tail is brown and the tips of the ears bear triangular black patches. It is distinguished from other Lepus species by the shape and details of its skull and teeth.

Distribution and habitat

The Chinese hare is native to the Chinese provinces of Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. It also occurs on Taiwan and in a small area of north-eastern Vietnam.
The population of Chinese hare in Taiwan is considered as a subspecies, known as the. Other than the nominate subspecies L. s. sinensis, a subspecies endemic to Hunan, L. s. yuenshanensis, has been documented since 1930.

Biology

Like other hare species, the Chinese hare's diet consists of grasses and other green plant material, buds, twigs and bark. It is mainly nocturnal and produces two types of faeces, moist and dry pellets. It eats the moist pellets immediately so as to extract the maximum nutritional value from its food. It does not live underground in a burrow but has a form or nest in long vegetation. A litter of about three precocial young are born in this and visited by the mother once a day for a few minutes to allow them to suckle. The mother's milk is particularly rich in protein and fat and the lactation period lasts for about three weeks, Various carnivores prey on the Chinese hare and it relies on its fast running speed to escape from predators. It may opportunistically use burrows of other animals and pile fecal pellets outside the entrance.

Status

The IUCN lists the Chinese hare in its Red List of Threatened Species as being of "Least Concern" as it has a wide range. However, in Vietnam it occurs in a heavily populated area and is at risk from hunting and habitat loss. In China, its population trend is unknown.