Many local people are familiar with, but not necessarily impressed by, the sight of hares happily scampering around their gardens and paddocks.

The species that we see in Australia is the European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus). It can grow to a body length of 650 mm and a weight up to 6.5 kgs, however, most are smaller than this. Adults are fawn to tawny; underparts and tail are white.
A hare is equipped for speed, it has long legs, a powerful leaping gait and a big heart, which enable it to sprint and accelerate swiftly, speeds of 70 kms per hour have been recorded. Hares are herbivores and eat grass, herbs, bark, and shoots. They do not have strong social bonds and are basically solitary, but may congregate in small groups especially during the breeding season. At this time they engage in spectacular leaping, chasing, and boxing displays – activities which gave rise to the saying “as mad as a March hare”. After a gestation of 42 days, between 2 and 4 young called leverets are born.
Leverets are fully furred; they stay hidden in a shallow nest called a form for 30 days and are fed by their mother once per day until they are weaned at 30 days old. Hares have many predators, in Australia, these include raptors, snakes, feral cats, foxes, dingoes, and wild dogs.
Although hares resemble rabbits, there are many differences - hares do not burrow, they are not gregarious, they outrun predators rather than hide in burrows, their young are born fully furred while rabbits are born blind and hairless, and most importantly, hares do not have the same high reproductive rate as rabbits and consequently are only considered a minor pest.
Hares have a curious relationship with humans: while they thrive in cultivated landscapes and are tolerant of human presence, they have not been domesticated due to an extremely strong flight instinct. If caged they become traumatised and distressed, can suffer cardiac arrest, or fatally injure themselves by repeated attempts to escape.
Hares, like rabbits, foxes, deer, and many other animal and plant pests, are a disastrous legacy of colonial acclimatisation societies. The most significant importation of hares into Australia was by the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria in the 1860s. Although thriving in Australia, unfortunately, hares are in decline across their original European habitat.