Demographic examination of Brown hare (Lepus europaeus) stocks with special reference during birth and survival in Eastern Hungary

Abstract The aim of the research was to demographically examine a brown hare population, in particular to analyze the age structure, the time of birth and the survival pattern by hunting bag. The data collection was carried out between 2014-2016 in Eastern Hungary. A total of 169 organ samples were examined. In the studied area, the majority of the samples were under 1 year old and 1-2 year olds. The older age group occured 4.1-18.6% in the hunting bag. Nearly half of the hares under one year of age were individuals 4 to 7 months of age at the time of the hunts, which coincided with the time of dispersion of the individuals. Survival rates of hares under one year of age were found to be lower than those of older individuals in all cases. Overall, the age-specific survival probability of males is considered to be more balanced than that of females between years. Studies have shown that the age composition and survival patterns of stocks vary from year to year.