Cape scrub hare

{{Short description|Species of mammal}} {{Speciesbox | image = Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa (31873568687).jpg | image_caption = Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=Robinson, T.J. |author2=Child, M.F. |author3=Relton, C. |author4=Johnston, C.H. |year=2019 |title=''Lepus saxatilis'' |volume=2019 |article-number=e.T41285A45188827 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41285A45188827.en |access-date=23 September 2025}}</ref> | genus = Lepus | species = saxatilis | authority = F. Cuvier, 1823 | range_map = Lepus saxatilis 2019 range.svg | range_map_caption = {{legend0|#F07568| range}} | synonyms = {{Collapsible list| *''Lepus timidus'' A. Smith, 1826 *''Lepus rufinucha'' A. Smith, 18291 *''Lepus longicaudatus'' J. E. Gray, 1837 *''Lepus fumigatus'' J. A. Wagner, 1844 *''Lepus grayi'' Fitzinger, 1867 *''Lepus zuluensis subrufus'' A. Roberts, 1913 *''Lepus gungunyanae'' A. Roberts, 1914 *''Lepus zuluensis damarensis'' A. Roberts, 1926}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=mdd>{{Cite mdd|title=''Lepus saxatilis'' F. Cuvier, 1823 |id=1001102|species=saxatilis|genus=Lepus|access-date=23 September 2025}}</ref> }}

The '''Cape scrub hare''' ('''''Lepus saxatilis''''') ({{langx|af|ribbokhaas}}) is a species of hare found in South Africa and Namibia. Although it is listed as a least concern species, the population has been declining and is expected to decline by 20% over the next 100 years, according to a 2004 report.<ref name=iucn />

==Taxonomy== Frédéric Cuvier wrote the first description of the Cape scrub hare in 1823.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cuvier |first1=F. |author-link1=Frédéric Cuvier |date=1823 |chapter=LIÈVRE, Lepus. (Mamm.) |pages= 299–316 |editor-last=Anonymous |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25515066 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library |title=Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles |volume= vingt-sixième |publisher=LEP–LIN. F. G. Levrault |location=Strasbourg}}</ref> It was one of two hares (species in the genus ''Lepus'') known at the time to inhabit South Africa, with the other being the Cape hare (''L. capensis''). Its taxonomy has since been confused, especially in the region south of the Cunene and Zambezi rivers. The species referred to as the Cape scrub hare is considered to have diverged from the African savanna hare (''L. victoriae'') fairly recently, but further clarifications on the species' taxonomy requires study of other African hare populations.<ref name=Terry2018>{{Lagomorphs2018|first1=Terry J. |last1=Robinson |chapter=''Lepus saxatillis'' F. Cuvier, 1823 Cape scrub hare }}</ref> Populations of Cape hare found in Sardinia and coastal North Africa were found to be more closely related to the Cape scrub hare and the European hare (''L. europaeus'') than they were to other Cape hares in southern Africa based on phylogenetic analysis. These related hares have been considered part of the Mediterranean hare species,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scandura |first=Massimo |chapter=Cape hare ''Lepus capensis'' Linnaeus, 1758 |date=2023 |title=Primates and Lagomorpha |pages=79–98 |editor-last=Hackländer |editor-first=Klaus |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-34043-8_10 |access-date=2026-03-04 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-34043-8_10 |isbn=978-3-030-34042-1 |last2=De Marinis |first2=Anna Maria |last3=Canu |first3=Antonio |editor2-last=Alves |editor2-first=Paulo C.}}</ref> described in the 19th century by Johann Andreas Wagner but only reestablished as separate from the Cape hare in 2019.<ref name="Boix">{{cite journal |first1=Carmen|last1=Soria-Boix|first2=Maria P.|last2=Donat-Torres|first3=Hamid|last3=Rguibi Idrissi|first4=Vicente|last4=Urios|journal=Evolutionary Ecology Research|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10251/167876|hdl=10251/167876|title=Evolutionary ecology of hares (Lepus spp.) from northwestern Africa; the problem of cryptic species and the description of a new species (''Lepus saharae'' sp. nov.)|date=September 2019|volume=20|pages=537–555}}</ref>

According to analysis performed in 2024 by Leandro Iraçabal and colleagues, the Moroccan hare (''Lepus schlumbergeri'') and the African savanna hare are the closest relatives of the Cape scrub hare:<ref name="Iraçabal-2024">{{Cite journal |last=Iraçabal |first=Leandro |last2=Barbosa |first2=Matheus R. |last3=Selvatti |first3=Alexandre Pedro |last4=Russo |first4=Claudia Augusta de Moraes |date=2024 |title=Molecular time estimates for the Lagomorpha diversification |journal=PLOS One |volume=19 |issue=9 |article-number=e0307380 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0307380 |doi-access=free|issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11379240 |pmid=39241029}}</ref> {{clade|1= {{clade |1='''''Lepus saxatilis''''' |2={{clade |1=''Lepus schlumbergeri'' |2=''Lepus victoriae'' }} }}|2=Other hares}}

==Description== Similar to the African savanna hare, the Cape scrub hare is a grizzled gray coarse-furred hare. Its undersides are gray, and the inside of the limbs, the chin, and chest are white. Fur becomes sparse along the ears, which are black at the tips. Its tail is black on top and white below, and measures {{convert|13 to 15|cm}} in length. An off-white ring encircles the Cape scrub hare's eyes. Cape scrub hares are typically larger than African savanna hares, and adults weigh from {{convert|3.2 to 4|kg}}, with females being generally heavier than males.<ref name=Terry2018 />

==Habitat and distribution== The Cape scrub hare is endemic to southern Africa, and lives in southwestern Namibia and the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. Its presence in Namibia and absence in southeastern parts of Africa is based on taxonomic restrictions imposed on the species in 2018.<ref name=iucn />

==Ecology and behavior== [[File:Young Scrub Hare (Lepus saxatilis) (31997125414) (cropped).jpg|alt=A hare walking on all fours|left|thumb|A young Cape scrub hare seen in Bontebok National Park, Western Cape, South Africa]] Cape scrub hares are solitary and herbivorous. They are sometimes found in pairs.<ref name=Terry2018 />

===Diet=== The Cape scrub hare is a herbivore and eats mostly green grasses, consuming their leaves, stems, and rhizomes. Green grass is preferred over dry grass.<ref name=Terry2018 />

==Threats== Some ixodid ticks are known to affect Cape scrub hares.<ref name=Terry2018 />

As of 2019, the scrub hare is listed as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has a fairly restricted distribution. A 2004 study estimated that within the next 100 years, their population is estimated to decrease by 20%, but this rate of decline is not enough to consider the species as threatened.<ref name=iucn />

==References== <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:hare, Cape scrub}} scrub hare Category:Mammals of Southern Africa scrub hare scrub hare