Arctic Hare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iArctic Hare | ||||||||||||||
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| Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819 |
The Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) is a hare which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It was once considered a subspecies of the Mountain Hare, but it is now regarded as a separate species. It is distributed over the tundra regions of Greenland and the northernmost parts of Canada as well as Alaska. In the far north, it is white year-round; in other parts, it is a frosty blue grey color in summer but the tail remains white. It is an average of 22-28 inches long, it weighs about 9-12 lb.
The Arctic Hare mainly eats woody plants. It eats buds, berries, leaves and the meat in hunters traps as well. It has a keen sense of smell and may dig for willow twigs under the snow.
[edit] References
- Lagomorph Specialist Group (1996). Lepus arcticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
el:Αρκτικός λαγός fi:Napajänis nl:Poolhaas pl:Zając polarny zh:北极兔
