Hares cause little damage

Sir, - Let me first thank Lianne MacLennan, (August 19) who represents the Angus Glens Moorland Group for extending an invitation to tour one of the estates to familiarise myself with the number of mountain hares on that one estate.

I have, however, walked over every estate in Angus on more than one occasion and feel there would be little to be gained.

Though I do tend towards banning the culling of mountain hares and allowing a natural biodiversity to develop, I continue to retain an open mind as to what actions might be required.

Lianne states hares damage habitats and spread disease, which she gives as reasons for the continuing culls.

Sheep and deer are also known to damage habitats by grazing. Though sheep numbers have fallen in Scotland since 1999 by up to 65%, they have increased around southern Aberdeenshire and the Angus Glens seemingly to help remove ticks regardless of the damage done to the environment.

Red deer numbers were around 100,000 after the Second World War and the Red Deer Commission, created in 1959, put the desirable number at 60,000.

More than 60 years later, red deer numbers have trebled. The damage they do to trees and plants is immense. The rise in numbers can be partly attributed to sporting estates failing to keep the numbers down.

In combination, the destruction of habitats and woodlands by sheep and deer far outweighs any peripheral damage occasioned by hares.

Add frequent habitat burning to this, which kills invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, rare plant species and saplings, then the role of the hare could again be seen as minimal. George Murdoch. 4 Auchcairnie Cottages, Laurencekirk.