Lepus timidus
Silhouette: Jan A. Venter, Herbert H. T. Prins, David A. Balfour & Rob Slotow (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
The mountain hare or arctic hare (Lepus timidus), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a species of hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats in the Palearctic realm. It is a large hare, slightly smaller than the European hare and identifiable by its tail, which is completely white throughout the year. Mountain hares have a brown coat in summer and white to grey in winter. Their diet is highly adaptive to their environment, but is generally made up of plant matter such as grass, twigs, and bark.
The scientific name Lepus timidus was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The mountain hare arose during the Late Pleistocene; there is evidence that its range expanded during glaciations into southern Europe, with populations of the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis), European hare (L. europaeus) and broom hare (L. castroviejoi) in northern Iberia harboring mitochondrial haplotypes from the mountain hare.
During the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene, the mountain hare in Russia grew at least 10% larger than other hare species today. It was therefore classified as a distinct... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hellabrunn Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | wildlife park Feldkirch | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 3 | Wildpark Feldkirch | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 4 | Hanover Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Sapporo Maruyama Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 6 | Asahiyama Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 7 | Zoopark Limpopo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Alpenzoo Innsbruck | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 9 | Tierpark Schlichtweg 15 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Zoo Schlichtweg 11 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 11 | Zoo Siebenbrunner Straße 6 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Hare sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 58 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 19 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Hare in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Hare sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Cairngorms National Park, in our data
Cairngorms National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mountain Hare sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Hare is recorded against all the mammals logged in Cairngorms National Park (58 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
