“In June your support helped get my amendment passed in the Scottish Parliament to make mountain hares a protected species and to bring about an end to their mass slaughter on Scotland’s grouse moors. It was an important victory in its own right and also because it’s the first time that decisive action has been taken against wildlife persecution on Scotland’s grouse moors.

Sadly, however, the Scottish Government has yet to deliver this protection.  The open season is due to start again and killing mountain hares without licence can commence once more from today.

We must not let this happen. You’ve already helped so much, but we need to make another push.

Protect mountain hares now

Please email your MSP and ask them to call on the Scottish Government to act now to bring this protection into force before the killing resumes.

You can get your MSP contact details here, and a template email you can use is here.

Protect mountain hares now

The status of Scotland’s mountain hare population is now described as ‘unfavourable.’  With experts reporting evidence demonstrating significant population decline, there is not a moment to waste.  

It’s down to us to remind the Scottish Government that an overwhelming majority of people in Scotland support this progress and that mountain hares in Scotland need protection now.

Yours in hope,

Alison Johnstone MSP, August 2020