Cape hare

Gestation lasts 42.6 days, litters average 2.5 young, females have 3.1 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 200 days. The cape hare is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and it has a lifespan of 8.9 years.

Weight

2.2 kg – 3.26 kgsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Lifespan

8.9 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Herbivoresrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

Not recorded

Gestation

42.6 dayssrc for Gestation

Young per litter or clutch

2.51src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

6.57 monthssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

3.14src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

At night (nocturnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The cape hare is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classMammalia
4. orderLagomorpha
5. familyLeporidae
6. genusLepus
7. SpeciesLepus capensis Linnaeus, 1758

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

LC, Least Concern

European hare

Lepus europaeus

Leporidae

LC, Least Concern

Mountain hare

Lepus timidus

Leporidae

LC, Least Concern

Arctic hare

Lepus arcticus

Leporidae

LC, Least Concern

Snowshoe hare

Lepus americanus

Leporidae

LC, Least Concern

Black-tailed jackrabbit

Lepus californicus

Leporidae

G

Granada hare

Lepus granatensis

LeporidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCape hare vs European hareCape hare vs Mountain hareCape hare vs Arctic hareCape hare vs Snowshoe hare

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
  Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{cape_hare_2026,
  title = {Cape hare (Lepus capensis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cape-hare},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}