Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Code of Practice for Brown Hare Management and Welfare in England, published by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust March 2013, and its effectiveness in preventing the shooting of hares during the breeding season.

Defra has not made a formal assessment of the Code of Practice for Brown Hare Management and Welfare in England and its effectiveness in preventing the shooting of hares during the breeding season. Defra holds no official statistics on the number of hares shot in England and can therefore make no official estimate of the number of hares shot during the breeding period. While the Code urges those who might lethally control hares to not carry out such activity from 1 March to 31 July, the Government’s understanding is that most hare shooting currently occurs in February when the gamebird season ends, despite many adult female hares being pregnant or even already nursing their young.