Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are planning to take to prevent the extinction of the brown hare in the UK because of a mutated version of the myxomatosis virus.

The UK’s brown hare population is relatively stable and not of conservation concern. Myxomatosis is endemic in rabbits and very occasionally can affect hares. There is no evidence to indicate that this disease is having a significant impact on the UK’s brown hare population at this time.