Shooting hares in England will be banned for most of the year as part of sweeping changes to animal welfare law.
At the moment, it is legal to shoot the animals during their breeding season, with pregnant hares left to bleed out, and leverets – their young – often orphaned as a result.
Ministers are also expected to announce the implementation of a ban on trail hunting, where hounds follow a scent rather than pursue a live animal. This was a manifesto commitment, and the new animal welfare strategy that will be announced on Monday is understood to outline a planned legislative pathway to the ban.
Campaigners have long said the rules need to be tightened because foxes are still often torn to shreds by dogs who are following an artificial fox scent and run into the path of a live animal.
The nature minister, Mary Creagh, said: “Brown hares are a cherished part of our countryside, an iconic British species, and it’s simply wrong that so many are shot during breeding season. I am determined to stop the decline of this wonderful animal.”
It is hoped that the animal welfare package, to be announced in full, will also raise the spirits of Labour MPs and voters after months of party infighting, continuing rises in the cost of living, and a prolonged slump in the polls.
Previous polling showed 79% of the public thought the law on foxhunting should be tightened to stop trail hunts from accidentally killing foxes. Labour sources said their polling showed 85% of the public believed there was a moral duty to protect animal welfare.
The new close season will ban hare hunting during the breeding months of February to October to protect mothers and the young. At present, hares are shot for their meat, for fun, and because some landowners in the countryside believe it is overpopulated with the animals.
However, the claim that the countryside is overpopulated with hares is dubious. Brown hare populations in England and Wales have declined by 80% over the past century.
George Eustice, the former Conservative environment secretary, tried while in post to implement a close season for hares but was blocked by No 10.
He told the Guardian: “The first principle of conservation is to protect species during their breeding season, so it is excellent news that the government will now create a modern close season on the shooting of hares. Every year, approximately 200,000 hares are killed in organised, commercial shoots during February and March and this has a devastating impact on the orphaned leverets, which are left to starve to death.
“Even the Victorians recognised the need for a close season but the 1892 act was based on a ban on sales, so no longer works. The current government deserves credit for finally getting this important change done.”
