Home


Tundra or Arctic Hares


by
David R. Klein
National Biological Service
The tundra or Arctic hare (Lepus othus; systematic studies are being conducted because some researchers classify the hare as Lepus timidus) now has a restricted distribution in western Alaska (Figure). It occurs in tundra habitats and also in shrub communities along streams. Its primary foods are willows, grasses, and herbaceous plants. Indigenous people, particularly in the coastal tundra of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta regions, the Seward Peninsula, and the Kotzebue Sound drainages, have a long history of using the tundra hare for food and clothing. The hare has declined in number throughout much of its range; biologists do not know what has caused its reduced distribution or the decrease in numbers.

Figure. Distribution of the tundra hare, with historical records of occurrence outside of its present distribution.

Distribution Records
We obtained information on the former and present distribution and numbers of the tundra hare from historical records and reports and from interviews of state and federal wildlife biologists and local residents (Bee and Hall 1956; Murie 1959; Anderson 1974). Biologists conducted limited reconnaissance surveys on the Alaska Peninsula during 1990 and 1991, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region in 1973, and on the Seward Peninsula and in the Kotzebue region during 1985, 1986, and 1993. Field surveys continue on the Seward Peninsula and near Kotzebue, along with studies of the habitat requirements of these hares. A mail survey to determine population status throughout their distribution is being initiated through the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Status
Tundra hare (Lepus othus). Courtesy D.R. Klein, NBS
Historically, the tundra hare was present in the Alaskan Arctic north of the Brooks Range (the "North Slope") from the Colville River westward (Bee and Hall 1956), but there have been no records of hares in that region since 1951 (Figure). Circumstantial evidence suggests that the tundra hare may have declined after the arrival of the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), which was not present there early in this century. The relationship may be direct through food or parasites and disease, or indirect through increased numbers of predators during snowshoe hare population highs.
The northern limit of tundra hare distribution in the coastal area of western Alaska has shrunk southward, and the hare is now absent or extremely rare north of Kotzebue. Centers of abundance are the western Seward Peninsula and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, although numbers have remained low there since population highs in the 1970's. Throughout its southern distribution on the Alaska Peninsula, tundra hare densities are currently low; high densities were last reported there in the winter of 1953-54 (Schiller and Rausch 1956). Researchers at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks are attempting to explain reasons for the tundra hare's decline.
For further information:
David R. Klein
National Biological Service
Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK 99775
References
Anderson, H.L. 1974. Natural history and systematics of the tundra hare (Lepus othus Merriam) in western Alaska. M.S. thesis, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 106 pp.

Bee, J.W., and E.R. Hall. 1956. Mammals of northern Alaska. Miscellaneous Publ. 8, University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, Lawrence. 309 pp.

 Murie, O.J. 1959. Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula. North American Fauna Series 61. 406 pp.

Schiller, E.L., and R. Rausch. 1956. Mammals of the Katmai National Monument, Alaska. Arctic 9:191-201.


Home