Arctic HareLepus arcticus

AppearanceArctic hare are the most northern dwelling of all hares and arealso among the largest. In the winter, their coats are long, whiteand silky and their ears are tipped with black. The summercoat ranges in colour through shades of gray, cinnamon brownand even a pinkish hue depending on geographic location.Arctic hare have medium sized ears and big padded feet. Thefur on their feet is a yellowish colour and they have long curvedclaws, especially on their front feet. These are very useful fordigging in the hard packed snow. Females are between 60 and70cm long and males are between 60 to 80cm in length. Malesand females weigh between 2.5 and 5.4kg.

Food And FeedingArctic hare eat a variety of tundra vegetation including twigsand roots of arctic willow and crowberry. In addition, they mayat times venture out onto the sea-ice in search of some seaweed.Finally, arctic hare also feed on meat, and are often attracted tobait left in traps.

BehaviourArctic hare do not appear to be very nervous around humans.However, if a dog, wolf or fox approaches, the hare immedi-ately bolt. They easily hide behind rocks and unless a noise isvery loud and close, they will not move. They have two waysof running, the more southern dwelling hare run using all fourlegs and the more northern dwelling hare hop like a kangaroo,on their hind legs. They resume a fourlegged run when dangerhas passed. At times, they hop up and down on their hind legsin an effort to scan the horizon for predators. Arctic hare eitherlive alone or in family groups. Some are playful and have beenobserved 'boxing' one another and standing on their hind legsdancing around. They are mainly nocturnal but also active in

periods of twilightand just before sun-rise. They are activeall year long andsometimes huddletogether to staywarm. They live indens that have anentrance, which isabout 10cm in diam-eter and 30cm long

with a larger diameter inside the den.

RangeArctic hare are found throughout Nunavut. Their home range issmall which allows them to build up a series of runways and escaperoutes.

HabitatArctic hare are generally only found on the tundra beyond the treeline. In the winter, they tend to inhabit the northern slopes of hillswhere the wind keeps the ground more exposed. They are only like-ly to be found on low plains during the summer.

ReproductionThe breeding period is during the bright days of April and May.Arctic hare have a gestation period of about 50 days. They have onelitter a year with between 2 to 8 young per litter. The young areborn in a small depression in the moss or grass that may be pro-tected by a boulder. Young hare are born with a full coat of grey furand huddle together for warmth. Their weight, soon after birth isabout105g and they measure about 17.5cm. By early Septemberthey are fully grown and reach maturity at 1 year.

Status Survival and ManagementAccording to the Nunavut Wild Species 2000 report, the currentstatus of arctic hare is secure. They are thought to live about 5years. Their main predators in Nunavut include some carnivoresand birds.

Did You Know?Young arctic hare grow twice as fast as other species of hare due toshort arctic summers.

Wildlife Fact Sheets

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