Annual and seasonal home range and distances of movements of released hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) in Central Poland

Presented here are the results of research on spatial organisation among hares originating from enclosure-type rearing but released into a natural environment for them. The fates of the 60 animals were traced by radiotelemetry in the course of four successive years of research. The mean annual home range size was found to be 1.68 km(2) in males, significantly greater than that noted for females (0.43 km(2)). Similar relationships were observed in the case of seasonal ranges. The mean distance of movements noted for hares between successive radio-locations in the first month after release (at 239 m) was significantly greater than that noted for the second month (103 m) or the third (116 m). The mean distance of movement within individual annual home range for the males hares was 335 m and was significantly greater than that for females (226 m). Similar findings were obtained for seasonal ranges.