when was the brown hare introduced to britain
European hare European hares are native to much of continental Europe and part of Asia. Their range extends from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia, eastern Europe, and northern parts of Western and Central Asia. They have been extending their range into Siberia.[5] They may have been introduced to Britain by the Romans (circa 2000 years ago) as there are no records of them from earlier sites. Undocumented introductions probably occurred in some Mediterranean Islands.[22] They have also been introduced, mostly as game animals, to North America (in Ontario and New York State, and unsuccessfully in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), South America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and the Falkland Islands), Australia, both islands of New Zealand and the south Pacific coast of Russia.[5][21][23]