Hare close season unlikely before 2027 breeding season, ministers say

A statutory close season for hares in England is unlikely to be in place before the breeding season that opens in February 2027, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has told MPs. The written answer of Friday, 30 October is the Government’s clearest signal yet on timing since its Animal Welfare Strategy committed to considering the change.

What exactly did Defra say?

Answering Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat, Glastonbury and Somerton), environment minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter said in full: “This Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy is clear we will consider how to bring forward and introduce a close season for hares. A close season should reduce the number of adult hares being shot in the breeding season, which runs from February to October, meaning that fewer leverets (infant hares) are left motherless and vulnerable to starvation and predation. This Government needs a suitable primary legislative vehicle in place to deliver this change. Defra will do its utmost to look for suitable opportunities to take this measure forward. It is unlikely this could be done before the start of the 2027 breeding season.”

Where does the law stand on hares now?

England has no statutory close season for brown hares, although the Hares Preservation Act 1892 bars the sale of hares and leverets between March and July. Scotland has had close seasons since the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, and Wales consulted this autumn on introducing its own under the wild animal welfare white paper, with that consultation closing on 19 October.

A private member’s bill, the Hares (Close Season etc.) Bill, is listed for its second reading in the Commons on 19 March 2027. The Countryside Alliance opposed the Welsh proposal when it was published, and shoots in England continue to operate voluntary restraint in the breeding months.

The answer also lands two days after the same minister told MPs that Defra was “actively looking” to bring a ban on snares into force “as swiftly as possible”. Both measures sit in the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy, both need primary legislation, and neither yet has a named bill, which makes the hunt for a legislative vehicle the common bottleneck for the strategy’s countryside measures.

What happens next

Defra says it will look for a legislative vehicle, but none is named and no bill is promised in this session. The Welsh Government’s response to its consultation is awaited, and the Hares Bill’s second reading in March 2027 is the next fixed parliamentary moment. For shoots and keepered ground the practical position is unchanged for the season under way: with no statutory close season in force, voluntary restraint in the breeding months remains the only close-season protection hares have in England, and any change will come with notice through Parliament.