Germany Reports Record Brown Hare Population Growth Despite New Disease Threats

Germany's brown hare population reached a national average of 19 animals per square kilometer in 2025, marking the third consecutive record high, according to the German Hunting Association. Over the past 20 years, the hare count has grown by more than a quarter nationwide, the association said. Between spring and autumn 2025, the population rose by approximately seven percent across the country, a rate similar to the previous year. In some regions the increase was far steeper: in the western German low mountain ranges, the growth rate ran at roughly twice the national average, while Hamburg and parts of the northwest and northeast recorded gains of around 12 percent. The mild and dry winter of 2024/25, combined with an unusually dry spring, gave the species a significant boost, as the brown hare is considered an original steppe animal that thrives in open, dry conditions, the association noted.

58 (hares per sq km) — Hamburg's peak autumn 2025 hare density

Hamburg: 58, Northwest German lowlands: 30, Baden-Württemberg: 18, Saxony-Anhalt: 8, Brandenburg: 7

Hamburg leads the country with 58 hares per square kilometer Regional figures show sharp variation across Germany's federal states. Hamburg recorded the highest density in the country, with just under 58 hares per square kilometer in autumn 2025, up from an average of 39 in the preceding spring — a 12 percent rise. Franziska Baudach, a spokesperson for wildlife ecology and wildlife monitoring at the German Hunting Association, attributed the trend to warm, dry weather, the availability of flowering strips, and the quality of food sources, all of which also improve the milk production of female hares and help the animals hide from predators. „The more flowering strips there are, for example, the better the hares find food, the milk of the female hares improves and the animals can hide better from enemies” — Franziska Baudach via ZEIT ONLINE In Baden-Württemberg, the population stood at 18 animals per square kilometer in autumn 2025, two fewer than in the record year before, but still among the highest levels recorded in the state's history. Saxony-Anhalt counted an average of around eight hares per square kilometer in spring 2025, below the national average, though the state's northern regions and the northern Harz foreland recorded densities of up to 24 per square kilometer, according to the Saxony-Anhalt State Hunting Association. Brandenburg remained stable, moving from roughly five hares per square kilometer in spring to around seven in autumn, with the state's hunting association welcoming the stabilization and crediting cooperation with farmers on habitat structures.

Myxomatosis spreading among hares since 2023 A new disease is raising concern among wildlife experts just as population figures reach record levels. Myxomatosis, first detected in German brown hares in 2023, has since spread to several federal states, though no confirmed cases have been reported in Baden-Württemberg or Saxony-Anhalt so far. The German Hunting Association said the disease's overall impact on the national population cannot yet be fully assessed. Nationwide data show no significant negative effects so far, but studies from North Rhine-Westphalia indicate that heavily affected local populations have not recovered, while less affected ones remain stable. The disease is almost always fatal in brown hares and rabbits. The Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung noted that its reference area in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern shows densities well above the northeastern German lowland average, demonstrating what wildlife-friendly land use with fallow land and hare-friendly mowing can achieve.

Habitat loss and intensive farming remain long-term threats Despite the positive population trend, experts warn that structural problems in the agricultural landscape continue to threaten the brown hare's long-term prospects. Klaus Hackländer, a wildlife biologist and board member of the Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung, pointed to intensive agriculture as the primary structural problem for the species. „Above all, intensive agriculture is a problem for the brown hare, just as it is for the partridge and the lapwing” — Klaus Hackländer via Die Welt Unlike rabbits, brown hares live above ground throughout the year and depend on varied, structurally rich landscapes with fallow land, flowering strips, and small-scale field parcels for food and cover. Compared with the 1970s, significantly less suitable habitat is available across Germany, the hunting association said. Hackländer called for at least seven percent of arable land to be left fallow by each farmer, while also stressing that financial support programs for farmers are necessary to make such measures viable. Predators including foxes, badgers, and raccoons add further pressure on local populations, and experts cautioned that more frequent extreme weather events driven by climate change could endanger young hares in the future.

The brown hare was once considered an endangered species in Germany, with populations having declined sharply in the latter decades of the twentieth century due to agricultural intensification and habitat loss. Systematic population monitoring in Baden-Württemberg has been conducted since 1997 by the state's wildlife research center in cooperation with the State Hunting Association, using a spotlight census method in which hunters drive fixed routes at night and count hares by the reflection of their eyes. The German Hunting Association bases its national figures on evaluations of counts conducted in more than 400 reference areas. The species favors open, structurally rich landscapes and is classified as an original steppe animal, making it sensitive to both land-use changes and weather extremes.