Can anyone please help me identify this hare photographed in northern Kruger National Park on 16 Dec 2013? It has a remarkably well-marked face pattern (like Riverine Rabbit?)
Thank you
Héctor
Help with identification of a hare in Kruger NP
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Unless it was in the extreme north of the park the only possibility is a scrub hare Lepus saxatilis.
Hector, I think Scrub Hare. The long ears and lack of all-grey head rule out either Jamieson’s or Natal Red Rock Hare. I would be nice to see a better profile of the face, but I can’t see the “conspicuous dark line separating the white chine and bib from the darker muzzle and cheeks.” (Kingdon Pocket Guide 2004), besides which the range is wrong. The white line between the cheek and rostrum suggest Scrub Hare but doesn’t rule out Cape Hare. I saw a Scrub Hare in Kruger NP a few years ago.
Amigos: Thank you for your swift comments. Scrub Hare it is, then. It was not in the extreme north of the park. It was fairly close to Punda Maria Camp.
Saludos,
Héctor
cape brown hare
Please detail why you suggest it is a “Cape Brown Hare”
Saludos,
Héctor
It’s really difficult to say anything about the hare itself in the photo, i.e. is it Cape or Scrub Hare. But both the location and habitat say it’s Scrub Hare. Cape Hare prefers drier, open habitat. Scrub Hare occurs in woodland and scrub cover with grass. Scrub Hare is commonly seen in cultivated areas. Normally the Scrub Hare is not seen in completely open grassland and the Cape Hare is not found in dense scrub or woodland; there is some overlap, however.
Source: Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa
I still did some analysis of the head patterns. This hare has white around the eyes and under the nostrils. There seems to be also a white “collar”.
Most, but not all Scrub Hares have a white forehead spot. Shame, that in the photo, there is grass just in the same place, so it’s impossible to say whether the spot is there or not.
The white around the eyes seems to be more common in Scrub Hares, than in Cape Hares (I compared photos in Google). But the white under the nostrils, seems to be common in Scrub Hares and rare in Cape Hares (again, comparison of photos in Google).
And same with that white collar, many Scrub Hares seems to have it, but only few Cape Hares. Not sure though, whether all hare photos in internet are identified right.
So, I vote for Scrub Hare, based on these patterns, location and habitat.
Its most certainly a scrub hare.
Thank you very much. Most details seem to point to Scrub Hare.
Saludos,
Héctor