Studies on the fertility of the European hare (Lepus europaeus PALLAS, 1778) in Germany

In the present study the reproduction performance of female European hares (Lepus europaeus) was estimated post mortem using the uterine placental sca res as indicators for previous pregnancies. The determination was performed by counting the number of placentation sites after coloration (BRAY and MA RBOUTIN, 1998). The sampling was carried out during the years 1997 and 1998 in the time per iod from October till December. Altogether 311 uteri, 183 uteri of adult an d 128 of juvenile female hares could he examined. The age was calculated ac cording to the eye lens weight. 84 % of the adults and only 1 % of the juve niles showed reproduction. In 30 individuals no signs of pregnancies could be found. It was remarkable that 21 of them showed pathological alterations. All these animals were ca lculated to be older than four years old. On average 9,4 places of placenta tion could be counted per uterus in adult females (nonreproductives include d). This value corresponds to the details found in the literature. In this respect no indications for a reduced fertility could be found.