The Burmese hare (''Lepus peguensis'') is a species of
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
in the family
Leporidae
Leporidae () is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 70 species of extant mammals in all. The family name comes from "Lepus", hare in Latin. Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order Lagomorpha. Leporidae ...
.
It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Subspecies
Three subspecies are recognised; ''L. p. peguensis'', ''L. p. siamensis'' and ''L. p. vassali''.
Description
The Burmese hare is a small to moderate sized species with adults growing to a length of
and weighing between .
[ The long ears have black tips, the dorsal surface of the body is reddish-grey tinged with black, the rump is rather greyer and the underparts are white. The tail is white above and black below and the feet are white in individuals from Burma and reddish-brown or yellowish-brown in those from Thailand.]
Distribution and habitat
The range of the Burmese hare extends from southern Myanmar, south of the Chindwin River
The Chindwin River (), also known as the Ningthi River (), is a river in Myanmar and is the largest tributary of the Irrawaddy River.
Sources
The Chindwin originates in the broad Hukawng Valley of Kachin State of Burma, roughly
, where the Tanai, ...
, to northern parts of the Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
, including Thailand, Cambodia, southern Laos and southern Vietnam.habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s are cropland and dry wasteland, clearings in forests and coastal sandy areas.[ It is common in seasonally-inundated riverside flats, and is present in ]rice field
Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling Pa ...
s cultivated in a traditional manner while avoiding heavily irrigated, intensively-grown paddies.
Biology
The Burmese hare is nocturnal and feeds on grass, twigs and bark. Several litters of young, averaging three or four, are borne in a year after a gestation period of about thirty-seven days. The average lifespan is estimated to be six years.
Status
Threats faced by the Burmese hare include the increased cultivation of irrigated rice paddies, which results in unsuitable habitat, and being hunted for food. However the hare has a wide range and is a common animal. The population is stable, or even possibly increasing in places where logging results in favourable scrubby habitat, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
lists its conservation status as being of "least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
".
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q852187
Lepus
Mammals described in 1855
Taxa named by Edward Blyth
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot