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Swiss hare (photo ©2010, WWF Switzerland)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss Easter bunnies, or to be more biologically correct, Easter hares, are doing a disappearing act, not just for Easter but year-round. WWF Switzerland, the nature protection group, says that the population of the long-eared fellows that serve as the design for Easter chocolates is falling steadily. The population around Soleure, in northwest Switzerland, was 64 hares per km2 in the 1970s and today it has fallen to only 16 per kms, and continues to drop.

Hares live mainly in the prairies and fields on the plain in Switzerland. Their environment has been shrinking and the large spaces with small areas where they find protection are becoming more fragmented. The change, which has been going on for a number of years, is due to a mix of things: greater urbanization, more industrial zones, denser road network and larger farm equipment. Hundreds are killed on roads each year.

Hare are the original Easter bunnies

Hares, unlike rabbits, do not dig warrens and their young, called leverets, are far more vulnerable to predators than rabbits’ young, called bunnies or kittens. Rabbits are highly sociable while hares tend to live alone.

WWF is working with a group of companies and organizations to promote 10,000 individual actions during the Year of Biodiversity declared by the UN. WWF’s recommendations for helping hares survive include more roadside hedges and wild grasses to provide the little hoppers with more shelter.

Links to other sites: WWF biodiversity 2010 projects (prizes offered individuals, schools and companies), Rabbits and Hares, Orcca, history of the Easter bunny, Wikipedia