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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ban the shooting of hares in the breeding season.

I refer the Noble Lord to the written response I gave to question HL12295 on 28 December 2018.

Please find the response below:

Wildlife conservation is a devolved matter so this answer is for England only.

The population of brown hares in England is believed to be stable. The majority of hare shooting occurs in regions where brown hares are locally abundant and leads to no long-term impact on hare populations. There is no evidence to suggest that a closed season would significantly benefit the conservation status of brown hares.

An industry-led initiative resulted in the publication of a code of practice to protect hares in England. This provides for a voluntary close season covering the main breeding season, while allowing farmers to protect their crops from serious damage by hares.