FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT ABNORMALITIES IN EUROPEAN

HARES (L E P U S E U R O P A E U S) IN AUSTRALIA
Philip Stott and Nicole Wight

I.

Introduction
A. Background information about the subject
1. Historically, populations of European Hares have been
steady, despite disease and environmental degradation. It
was important to figure out the cause of the decline in
European Hare population, on two separate continents,
because without good breeding stock the population would
decline dramatically.
The researchers knew that there were pregnancy
abnormalities that happened commonly in older hares,
however the young jills were also being effected.
2. The researchers chose this subject because the decline in
European Hares was noticeable.
The link between phytoestrogens in legumes and pesticides
and reproductive health of the hares, would be relevant in
womens reproductive health.
B. Why did the scientists do this research?
1. The researchers are trying to find a link between mortality
and reproductive health and dwindling populations in the
hares that was shockingly similar on two separate continents,
in Western and Central Europe and Australia.
2. The value in this topic would be the link between the
pregnancy abnormalities in the hares that consume high
amounts of phytoestrogens and human women who have
had the same pregnancy abnormalities linked to
phytoestrogen consumption. It could dictate information
regarding consumption of phytoestrogen containing legumes
and pesticides for women.
C. The researchers believed that it would be easier to study infertility and
mortality rates in a high breeding populations, such as hares. They
studied adult jills to find the cause of the dwindling population across
Australia.

II.

Materials and Methods

A. Hunters turned in the bodies of jills shot in three separate regions in
Australia. Volcanic Plains of western Victoria, the Monarto Plains of
South Australia and the Cowilla Floodplain of South Australia. The
hunters turned in hares every month of the year from 1996 to 1999.
They dissected the abdomen of the jills, examined the reproductive

organs in the body before removing them, then examined them

externally as well.
B. The hares were classified into three categories of age by rabbit lens
aging technique. 6-12 months of age, > 12 months of age and no lens.
They took tissue samples preserved in 10% buffered formalin. They
were stained then used for histopathologic examination.

III.

Results

IV.

Discussion

A. Fifty-one out of the 245 hares that were examined had reproductive
abnormalities.
1. This included lesions on the uterine horns with multiple large
cysts. It was
diagnosed as cystic endometrial hyperplasia.
1. 37 of the jills that had lesions on the oviducts and uterine horns
were pregnant and were considered infertile.
2. Extra uterine pregnancies were also present. Instances where
the uterine horn had ruptured and fetuses were in the
abdominal cavity, and the mother had survived.
3. Also present was resorption. Where the fetus was in the process
of being reabsorbed into the mothers body. This however was
not taken into account because this is fairly common and is a
condition of environmental stressors.
4. Unexpectedly hares in the Chowilla floodplain had few to no
abnormalities compared to the high numbers for hares in the
other two locations. Upon further study they believe to have
found the cause.

A. What did the results mean?

1. They determined that the hares numbers were declining due to
reproductive abnormalities. The abnormalities were being caused
by the phytoestrogen and the mycoestrogens they were
consuming. The farms of the Monarto and Volcanic Plains have
mixed pastures including legumes known to produce
phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens. (Reed, 2001) In both areas
agricultural chemicals are used, some of which are known to have
estrogenic activity (Jobling et al., 1995)
The hares in the Chowilla Floodplain did not have access to pasture
plants or agricultural chemicals. Their diet consisted of natural
vegetation, and they had little or no reproductive abnormalities.
The hares on the Chowilla Floodplain, on the other hand, have
little access to introduced pasture plants, none to crops, and there
is no use of agricultural chemicals in the area. Hence, there may be
an association between the level of potential exposure to
environmental estrogens and the prevalence of infertility in hares.

Further, most of the conditions described above have been shown

to have some relationship to estrogenic stimulation. (Stott, P.;
Wight, N. 2004)
2. When comparing their observations and results with similar results
in studies on sheep and phytoestrogens, the conclusions were
similar. Cystic endometrial hyperplasia is the major indication of
phytoestrogens in sheep (Bennitts et al., 1946) They did conclude
that they thought the population was declining because of the
evidence obtained, however it cannot be determined to be
concrete. They can only draw a strong correlation. It was definitely
left open ended.
B. What were the limitations to the study?
They did not test for higher levels of estrogen in the blood of the
hares. The discovery of the higher incidence of reproductive problems
with the populations that had access to crops and agricultural
chemicals was definitely a surprise.

Citations
1. REED, K. 2001. Oestrogens in pasture, hay and silage. Agriculture
Notes, Victoria AG02737: 12.
2. JOBLING, S., T. REYNOLDS, R. WHITE, M. G. PARKER, AND J. P.
SUMPTER. 1995. A variety of environmental persistent chemicals,
including some pthalate placticizers, are weakly estrogenic.
Environmental Health Perspectives 103: 582587.
3. STOTT, PHILIP; WIGHT, NICOLE. 2004. Female Reporductive Tract
Abnormalities in European Hares (Lepus Europaeus) in Australia.
40(4): 696-703
4. BENNETTS, H. W., E. J. UNDERWOOD, AND F. L. SHIER. 1946. A
specific breeding problem of sheep on subterranean clover
pastures in Western Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 22: 2
11.