A medium-sized, rock-loving hare found in the high, stony landscapes of southern Africa. It wears a warm, earthy coat: brown on top with light reddish (rufous) tones along the flanks and underparts, plus a sandy to reddish tail often tipped in darker fur. Its head tends to be more greyish, with pale grey-white cheeks, so its face looks softly outlined against its richer body color. The fur is dense and plush, a good match for chilly, windswept slopes at higher elevations.

Like its red rock hare cousins, Hewitt’s red rock hare is a specialist of rocky escarpments, hillsides, and kopjes. It favors higher ground with plenty of boulders, ledges, and cracks to hide in, and often chooses areas that get more rain—and therefore more grass—than the drier lowlands nearby. By day, it disappears into crevices or snug spaces under rocks and shrubs, blending in so well that the only clue to its presence might be a few tufts of fur on a stone. After dark, it comes out to feed, hopping quietly among stones and tufts of vegetation to nibble on grasses, herbs, and low shrubs. Scientists think its diet and general habits are very similar to those of other red rock hares: mostly plant-eaters that are especially fond of fresh green growth after rain or fire.

Hewitt’s red rock hare is mostly active at night and tends to be solitary or in very small groups, but several individuals may feed in the same general area if the grazing is good. Up on those rocky slopes, they share their world with some serious hunters—Verreaux’s eagles, Cape eagle-owls, leopards, and other predators that patrol cliffs and valleys looking for movement. The hare’s best defense is to stay perfectly still until the very last moment, then explode into a zigzagging dash that vanishes behind rocks and into narrow gaps where bigger animals can’t follow.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Eswatini

2018

Lesotho

2018

South Africa

2018