EVALUATION OF THE STATUS OF THE GRAY HARE POPULATION IN MARIJAMPOLĖ DISTRICT AND COMPARISON OF CENSUS TECHNIQUES

Abstract

In Lithuania, the gray hare (Lepus europaeus) is the dominant species and the object of hunting. The hare is one of the fastest land mammals in the world. The accounting used is to determine the numericality of the population by counting animals in the population. In addition to the methods of observation used in hunting, thermovisor monitoring was used as well. The aim of the research is to assess the state of the population of gray hares in Marijampole district and to compare accounting methods. In order to achieve the stated objective, the following objectives are addressed: to compare the accounting methods of grey hares; assess the state of the gray hare population in Marijampole district. Comparative accounting methods for gray hares, which include: accounting when hunting by sneaking chain, moving tape, "boiler", according to excrement; observations with a thermovisor. Most of the measurements were made using a thermovisor. The data of the study stood out in the way of assessing by sproutingwhen most  hares were observed in 2018, by all other methods in 2019. The state of the gray hare population in Marijampole district was assessed. The largest number of hares was observed in November 2019 at rapeseed or beet.