A report commissioned by the Belfast Hills Partnership has called for urgent action to save the Irish hare after a study found that numbers of the native Irish mammals are at dangerously low levels in the Belfast Hills.

The shock report entitled the Belfast Hills Mammal Survey established that there is only a small population of Irish hare in the west of the city at Divis and Black Mountain. In the northern end of the hills at Cave Hill Country Park, none were found. The species also seems to be absent from the southern side of the hills at Slievenacloy Nature Reserve near Lisburn.

The study calls for increased monitoring, creating a mix of habitats to encourage the recovery of the species, possible fox control and the targeting of resources to locations where numbers still exist on Black Mountain and Divis.

The Irish Hare attracted major conservation concern following a sustained population decline in Northern Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. The picture is much the same in the Republic where the iconic and mystical Irish mammal is also declining in numbers.

The dramatic fall has resulted in the drawing up of a biodiversity species action plan on an all-Ireland basis.

Northern Ireland-wide surveys have been carried out before and have shown a worrying decline in the Irish hare.

With over £10,000 funding from Better Belfast, the Belfast Hills Partnership appointed environmental consultants Quercus at Queen’s University to carry out a survey of the Irish hare. The report was the first study to be carried out into a single, specific upland area in the north.

Studies were conducted at the beginning of 2008 and included the breeding season in March to correspond with the spectacle of the ‘mad March hare’.

“Conservation resources should be primarily invested at Divis and the Black Mountain, in an attempt to increase existing hare numbers prior to the implementation of conservation strategies at other sites where the species does not occur,” the report states.

Belfast Hills Partnership Manager Dr Jim Bradley said urgent action needed to be taken to avoid the risk of the Irish hare becoming completely extinct in the Belfast Hills. But he added that he was heartened by the colony found at Divis and Black Mountain.

“The report has shown that there is a presence of Irish hare in Divis and Black Mountain. It is thought that this is because of different mosaics of different habitats such as rush pasture, meadows and heather which fit the complex requirements of the Irish hare,” he said.

“The reason it is not found in other areas is thought to be the absence of cover and the variety of grasses and plants that are vital in providing food for the hare over the year.”

Dr Bradley added: “Earlier this year the Partnership produced and distributed a biodiversity postcard asking for the public to tell us of any sightings. We got very useful Irish hare reports from Stoneyford, Slievenagravery and Glenside.

“Thanks to this survey we now can see what needs to be done in terms of managing the sensitive habitats of the Belfast Hills for Irish hare and other important animals.”

 

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