Endangered
Hispid Hare
Caprolagus hispidus
Hispid Hare is a mammal in the family Leporidae (order Lagomorpha) — Caprolagus hispidus, recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The hispid hare has a harsh and bristly fur coat. The coat is dark brown on the back due to a mixture of black and brown hairs. Brown on the chest and whitish on the abdomen. The tail is brown and ranges from 25 to 38 millimetres (0.98 to 1.50 inches) long.
The ears of the adult are 54 to 61 mm (2.1 to 2.4 in) long.
Range and habitat
The historical range of the hispid hare extended from Uttar Pradesh through southern Nepal, the northern region of West Bengal to Assam and into Bangladesh. It was also thought to occur in D'Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh, but little evidence of the hispid hare has been found, with the Indian hare being more common in the area. It takes refuge in marshy areas or grasses adjacent to river banks during the dry season, when grassy areas are susceptible to burning.
Prior to its rediscovery in Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary alongside the pygmy hog in 1971, it was thought to be extinct. The hispid hare is known to be present in the grasslands of Shuklaphanta National Park based on pellet records, but its population density is very low (from 0.182 to 0.221 individuals per hectare), comparable only with that of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary (0.087 per hectare).
Habitat labels include grassland.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The hispid hare's predators include birds of prey, cats, civets, jackals, weasels, and foxes. The hispid hare is herbivorous, and eats grasses and leaves within its habitat.
Breeding in captivity has been described as "very difficult".
In crisis
Once thought to be extinct, the hispid hare was rediscovered in Assam in 1971 and has been found in isolated populations across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Populations experienced a continuing decline due to loss of suitable habitat via increasing agriculture, flood control, and human development, particularly burning and collection of thatch grasses. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
Grassland habitats of the hispid hare are threatened due to overgrazing by cattle. Additionally, the hispid hare is threatened by the cutting and burning of vegetation in its habitat.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Hispid Hare is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Hispid hare, Wikidata item Q301068. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
