CreatureData

Hispid hare

Caprolagus hispidus (Pearson, 1839)

ENEndangeredmammals

The hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), also called the Assam rabbit or Bristly rabbit, is a mammal in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial, nocturnal herbivore of grassland, with a representative adult body mass of 2.5 kg.

Hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus)
Photo: Bed Bahadur Khadka · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the hispid hare

Gestation lasts 40 days, with 3.5 young per litter and 2.7 litters per year. The IUCN Red List classifies the hispid hare as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.

Weight
2.5 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Gestation
40 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
3.46src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
2.66src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the hispid hare live?

Not recorded

What is the hispid hare?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), also known as the Assam rabbit and bristly rabbit, is a species of rabbit native to South Asia. It is the only species in the genus Caprolagus. Named for its bristly fur coat, the hispid hare is a rabbit with dark-brown fur and a large nose. It has small ears compared to the Indian hare, a lagomorph that occurs in the same regions as the hispid hare.

Once thought to be extinct, the hispid hare was rediscovered in Assam in 1971 and has been found in isolated populations across India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Its historic range extended along the southern foothills of the Himalayas, and a related fossil in the genus Caprolagus has been found as far away as Indonesia. Today, the species' habitat is much smaller and is highly fragmented. The region it occupies is estimated to be less than 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi), extending over an area of 5,000 to 20,000 square kilometres (1,900 to 7,700 sq mi). Populations experienced a continuing decline due to loss of suitable habitat via increasing agriculture, flood control, and human development, particularly burning and collection of thatch grasses. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The rabbit is known to occur in several national parks. Breeding in captivity has been described as "very difficult". Conservation efforts focus on community education and further study.

From the Wikipedia article “Hispid hare” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hispid_hare&oldid=1372341095), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the hispid hare endangered?

The hispid hare is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  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 Endangered species.

How is the hispid hare classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderLagomorpha
  5. familyLeporidae
  6. genusCaprolagus
  7. SpeciesCaprolagus hispidus (Pearson, 1839)

Synonyms Lepus hispidus

Other names and names in other languages (29)
  • Assam rabbitEnglish
  • Bristly rabbitEnglish
  • দলখৰিয়াAssamese
  • Ha Ha PahooAssamese
  • KhargorkataAssamese
  • আসামি খরগোশBangla
  • králík štětinatýCzech
  • BorstenkaninchenGerman
  • Assam-BorstenkaninchenGerman
  • Ακαλλίτριχο ΚουνέλιGreek
  • Conejo de AssamSpanish
  • karhokaniiniFinnish
  • Lapin de l'AssamFrench
  • Lapin de l’AssamFrench
  • アラゲウサギJapanese
  • 아삼털토끼Korean
  • BustkaninNorwegian Bokmål
  • KharayoNepali
  • Laghukarna KharayoNepali
  • AssamkonijnDutch
  • Bengaals KonijnDutch
  • Borstelige HaasDutch
  • assamczak szczeciniastyPolish
  • Coelho-asiáticoPortuguese
  • Iepure zbârlitRomanian
  • Щетинистый заяцRussian
  • Кустарниковый заяцRussian
  • Складчатозубый заяцRussian
  • ஹிஸ்பிட் காட்டு முயல்Tamil

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the hispid hare

Other species in the same family Leporidae.

LC, Least Concern
Cape hare (Lepus capensis)

Cape hare

Lepus capensis

Leporidae

CompareHispid hare vs European rabbitHispid hare vs European hareHispid hare vs Mountain hareHispid hare vs Arctic hare

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the hispid hare?

The hispid hare is a mammal in the family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha. It is also called the Assam rabbit or Bristly rabbit.

Is the hispid hare endangered?

Yes. The IUCN Red List classifies it as Endangered (EN), a threatened category.

What does the hispid hare eat?

The hispid hare is a herbivore.

How heavy is the hispid hare?

An adult Hispid hare has a representative body mass of 2.5 kg, placing it in the medium size class.

What habitat does the hispid hare live in?

The hispid hare lives in grassland, where it is terrestrial and nocturnal.

How many young does the hispid hare have?

The hispid hare has 3.5 young per litter and 2.7 litters per year, after a gestation period of 40 days.

Who named the hispid hare?

The scientific name Caprolagus hispidus carries the authority (Pearson, 1839), meaning it was named by Pearson in 1839.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hispid-hare

MLA

“Hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hispid-hare.

BibTeX
@misc{hispid_hare_2026,
  title = {Hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hispid-hare},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}