Categories
Animal Size

European hare size: How big do they get?

How big does a European hare get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:

A grown European hare (Lepus europaeus) reaches an average size of 52.6 cm (1′ 9″).

When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 12 years, they grow from 123 grams (0.27 lbs) to 3.82 kg (8.42 lbs). Talking about reproduction, European hares have 2 babies about 4 times per year. The European hare (genus: Lepus) is a member of the family Leporidae.

As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.

The average adult size of a European hare is (1' 9

The European hare (Lepus europaeus), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly on grasses and herbs, supplementing these with twigs, buds, bark and field crops, particularly in winter. Their natural predators include large birds of prey, canids and felids. They rely on high-speed endurance running to escape predation, having long, powerful limbs and large nostrils.Generally nocturnal and shy in nature, hares change their behaviour in the spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around in fields. During this spring frenzy, they sometimes strike one another with their paws (“boxing”). This is usually not competition between males, but a female hitting a male, either to show she is not yet ready to mate or as a test of his determination. The female nests in a depression on the surface of the ground rather than in a burrow and the young are active as soon as they are born. Litters may consist of three or four young and a female can bear three litters a year, with hares living for up to twelve years. The breeding season lasts from January to August.The European hare is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because it has a wide range and is moderately abundant. However, populations have been declining in mainland Europe since the 1960s, at least partly due to changes in farming practices. The hare has been hunted across Europe for centuries, with more than five million being shot each year; in Britain, it has traditionally been hunted by beagling and hare coursing, but these field sports are now illegal. The hare has been a traditional symbol of fertility and reproduction in some cultures and its courtship behaviour in the spring inspired the English idiom mad as a March hare.

Animals of the same family as a European hare

We found other animals of the Leporidae family:

Animals with the same size as a European hare

Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as European hare:

Animals with the same litter size as a European hare

Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a European hare:

Animals with the same life expectancy as a European hare

Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a European hare:

Animals with the same weight as a European hare

As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Lepus europaeus: