The woolly hare (Lepus oiostolus) is a thick-furred species of hare found in the montane grasslands of western and central China,northern India,and Nepal. It is a medium- to large-sized hare with fur that varies in colour with location,from sandy yellow to light brown. Among the Chinese hares,it has the largest ears. Whitish rings around the eyes and an elongated muzzle are distinctive features of the woolly hare. Being a nocturnal species,the hare will forage for grasses and herbs at night and rest under shelter during the day.
The woolly hare was described in 1840 under the scientific nameLepus oiostolus by the British zoologist Brian Houghton Hodgson.[3] The species name oiostolus is reminiscent of the Ancient Greekοὖλος (oûlos),meaning 'woolly'.[4]
Several subspecies of the woolly hare have been described,though many have been discounted by later species accounts. After Hodgson's 1940 description of the woolly hare (the nominate subspecies),[2] he wrote an account of the species Lepus pallipes two years later,which would later be considered as the subspecies L. o. pallipes.[5] Another species,Lepus hypsibius,was described in 1875 by William Thomas Blanford;he would reconsider this species,as well as Lepus pallipes,to be varieties of the woolly hare in 1898.[6] Two subspecies—L. o. kozlovi and L. o. przewalskii—were described in 1907 by Konstantin Satunin as distinct species in the hare genus Lepus. Another subspecies,L. o. grahami,was described in 1928 by Alfred Brazier Howell (as Lepus grahami).[2] The woolly hare's systematics were clarified by Guiquan Cai and Zuojian Feng in 1982,when they noted the distinguishing characteristics of each woolly hare subspecies and added two new names,L. o. qinghaiensis and L. o. qusongensis.[7] The species' subgenus is either Proeulagus,according to A. A. Gureev,or Eulagos,according to Alexander Averianov.[5] The Yunnan hare (Lepus comus),also part of Eulagos,was once a subspecies of the woolly hare. Studies on the ecology and physical characteristics of the Yunnan hare led to its classification as a separate species in the 1980s.[8]
The third edition of Mammal Species of the World,published in 2005,reworked the woolly hare's systematics and placed it into four subspecies:[5]
Lepus oiostolus oiostolusHodgson,1840
Lepus oiostolus hypsibiusBlanford,1875
Lepus oiostolus pallipesHodgson,1842
Lepus oiostolus przewalskiiSatunin,1907
A common characteristic between the various subspecies was that they were largely based on external characteristics,and little molecular analysis had been done to clarify differences between them. Additionally,it was unclear if there were any differences in geographic distribution between the subspecies. A 2016 species account noted that each subspecies was apparently present throughout the species' continuous distribution and that distinctions between them may be unreasonable.[9] Two years later,another account was published that did not recognise any subspecies;[10] this was maintained in the 2019 International Union for Conservation of Nature assessment of the species.[1]
Description
The woolly hare is a medium- to large-sized hare. It has a head-body length of 40 to 58 centimetres (16 to 23 inches),an average weight of 2.4 to 3 kilograms (5.3 to 6.6 pounds),ears that measure from 11 to 16cm (4.3 to 6.3in),and hind feet roughly 10 to 14cm (3.9 to 5.5in) long. It has whitish rings around the eyes.[9] Males are slightly smaller than females.[11] Among the Chinese hares,the woolly hare has the largest ears,which are darker at the tip compared to the base. The auditory bullae,the bone structures that enclose the inner ear,are small.[12]
Its thick and soft fur varies widely in colour across its distribution,from sandy yellow to light brown. Its fur is especially long and curly,having a woolly appearance,which gives the hare its name. Compared to the hare's back and rump areas,the fur on its underside and near the hips is lighter in colour.[10] Its abdominal fur is mostly white,and can have a light brown line along the mid-ventral line. The hare's tail is white above and below,except for a brown-gray narrow stripe on the dorsal surface,and measures roughly 6.5 to 12.5cm (2.6 to 4.9in) in length.[9] Its muzzle is elongated and narrow,and its fur coat is moulted just once a year.[12][7]
The woolly hare is native to Central Asia,beng found throughout most of the Tibetan Plateau. Its range extends from the border regions of northern Nepal and India (including Sikkim and Ladakh) to western and central China,where it is present in the provinces of Gansu,Qinghai,Sichuan,the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang.[10]
The woolly hare mainly inhabits high altitude grasslands. It lives in alpine meadows,shrubby meadows,and upland cold deserts,but it also occurs in coniferous or mixed montane woodland.[12] In grassland habitats,the hare requires some amount of low-lying vegetation,such as shrubs,for use as shelter.[13] It has been found at altitudes ranging from 2,500 to 5,400 metres (8,200 to 17,700 feet) above sea level.[1][10]
Behaviour and ecology
A shy and usually solitary animal,the woolly hare is mostly nocturnal,but it has been recorded during the daytime. It feeds on grasses and herbs,with individual animals returning regularly at night to the same foraging areas. During the day it sometimes rests in the sun in a sheltered position. The breeding season starts in April,[12] with each female producing an average of three young annually over two litters.[14] Woolly hare populations generally have equal numbers of male and female members,and up to half of the population's size may be made up of the young.[10] A study in Tibet reported population densities ranging from 13 to up to 27hares per square kilometre.[13]
The woolly hare has a wide range but is a generally uncommon species,and its population is described as "very low except in a few favoured areas". It is hunted for its meat and fur,and in some areas suitable habitat is being destroyed,resulting in fragmenting of populations and the inability of individuals to make local migrations. In Nepal and China,it is present in some protected areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being a least-concern species,though in India it is considered endangered.[1] The species' genome was sequenced in 2024.[15] In China,it has been listed on the 2023 List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Ecological,Scientific and Social Values[zh].[16]
12Cai, Guiquan; Feng, Zuojian (1982). 高原兔(Lepus oiostolus)亚种补充研究—包括两个新亚种[A systematic revision of the subspecies of highland hare (Lepus oiostolus)—including two new subspecies]. Acta Theriologica Sinica (in Chinese). 2 (2): 171. doi:10.16829/j.slxb.1982.02.008.
1234Smith, A. T.; Xie, Y.; Hoffmann, R. S.; Lunde, D.; MacKinnon, J.; Wilson, D. E.; Wozencraft, W. C. (2010). "Woolly Hare". A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press. pp.289–290. ISBN978-1-4008-3411-2.
↑有重要生态、科学、社会价值的陆生野生动物名录[List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Ecological, Scientific and Social Values]. 中华人民共和国中央人民政府 [Government of the People's Republic of China]. June 26, 2023. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
