Arctic Hare
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| Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819 |
The Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) is a hare which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It was once considered a subspecies of the Mountain Hare, but it is now regarded as a separate species. It is distributed over the tundra regions of Greenland and the northernmost parts of Canada as well as Alaska. In the far north, it is white year-round; in other parts, it is a frosty blue grey color in summer but the tail remains white. It is an average of 22-28 inches long, it weighs about 9-12 lb.
The Arctic Hare mainly eats woody plants. It eats buds, berries, leaves and the meat in hunters traps as well. It has a keen sense of smell and may dig for willow twigs under the snow.
There are four subspecies of this hare:
- Lepus arcticus arcticus
- Lepus arcticus bangsii
- Lepus arcticus groenlandicus
- Lepus arcticus monstrabilis
[edit] References
- ^ Hoffmann, Robert S.; Andrew T. Smith (November 16, 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 195-196. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Lagomorph Specialist Group (1996). Lepus arcticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-06. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
