Mountain Hare
Mountain HareMountain HareMountain HareMountain Hare

Mountain Hare

Lepus timidus

Least ConcernNear ThreatenedVulnerableEndangeredCritically Endangered Endemic
30–40% · Possible
overall probability at Cairngorms National Park
68 Verified records at Cairngorms National Park
December Best month highest sighting rate
🌅 Crepuscular When it's active at dawn and dusk

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. Wikipedia →

30–40% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Hare sighting in Cairngorms National Park, based on 68 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.

Closest Relatives at Cairngorms National Park

Brown Hare
LC

Brown Hare

🌅 Crepuscular Mammal

Lepus europaeus

20–30% · Possible

📅 Monthly Probability

40–50
Jan
40–50
Feb
50–60
Mar
30–40
Apr
30–40
May
30–40
Jun
30–40
Jul
20–30
Aug
10–20
Sep
5–10
Oct
20–30
Nov
50–60
Dec

🌅 When They're Spotted

Most active at dawn and dusk · across all parks (global)

🌅Crepuscular
☀️🌙🌙12am6am12pm6pm12am

Global Distribution

Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.

where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is)  ·  parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Probability
1 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
30–40%
2 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
5–10%

Quick answers

What are the chances of seeing a Mountain Hare in Cairngorms National Park?

About 33% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Hare sighting in Cairngorms National Park, based on 68 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.

When is the best time to see Mountain Hare in Cairngorms National Park?

December has the highest sighting rate for Mountain Hare in Cairngorms National Park in our monthly data.

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