Brown hares feel at home in the city of Zurich

The targeted survey to detect the brown hare within the city limits of Zurich has yielded encouraging results.

In sixteen locations on the city's outskirts, the long-eared animals left tracks in the snow during the last two winters. To maintain or even grow the population, the hares depend on undisturbed retreats and an ecologically enriched landscape.

The brown hare has a difficult time in Switzerland. Recreational hunting, intensive agriculture, and habitats lacking sufficient structural features such as hedgerows or uncut meadows make life hard for it. Its populations are under pressure in many parts of the country, which is why it is listed on the Red List of threatened species. All the more encouraging, then, are the current records of long-eared animals within the city of Zurich.

As part of the monitoring of landscape enhancement measures, Grün Stadt Zürich, in collaboration with the team behind the «StadtWildTiere» project, has investigated the occurrence of brown hares in the city of Zurich. Using their distinctive tracks in the snow, biologists were able to confirm the presence of brown hares at sixteen locations during the last two winters. The tracks were found predominantly at woodland edges with little-frequented meadows and in forest clearings. In such places, enhancement measures such as graduated woodland edges with wide herbaceous borders and the reduction of disturbances create a suitable habitat for brown hares, helping to secure their continued presence in the StadtWildTiere» das Vorkommen der Feldhasen in der Stadt Zürich untersucht. Anhand deren typischer Spuren im Schnee konnten die Biologen während der letzten beiden Winter an sechzehn Orten Feldhasen nachweisen. Die Spuren fanden sich vorwiegend an Waldrändern mit wenig begangenen Wiesen und in Waldlichtungen. An solchen Orten schaffen Aufwertungsmassnahmen wie abgestufte Waldränder mit breitem Krautsaum und die Reduktion von störenden Einflüssen einen geeigneten Lebensraum für die Feldhasen und tragen dazu bei, ihren Fortbestand in der wildlife scene of the city of Zurich.

Related dossiers and articles:

• Dossier: The brown hare in Switzerland
• Dossier: Red Lists Switzerland
• Dossier: Hunting and biodiversity
• Dossier: Alternatives to recreational hunting
• Dossier: Hunting in Switzerland
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