Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow – Coursing in the East

The coursing of wildlife with sight hounds across the eastern counties hit the national headlines recently with the rampage of a gang of approximately 70 individuals in multiple vehicles across the countryside around Ely at the end of January.

It was widely reported that many emergency calls were made to the police by the local community as hares and deer were killed and crops and property damaged. With no units attending, the gang continued with impunity for several hours and will undoubtedly be emboldened to do the same again by the lack of law enforcement. A local news report with more details can be found here.

Whilst hare coursing is not confined to eastern counties of England, the area is known for having a sizable population of brown hares. However with the explosion of coursing in recent years,  this has to now be in doubt. Chinese water deer are also found across the area and as a species that favours browsing in open fields, rather than woodland, they are now routinely targeted too.

Whilst this incident is shocking for some, those of us based in the eastern counties know very well that it is far from isolated. Rarely a week goes by without coursers being spotted in local fields across the region. Despite the respective police forces collaborating on various initiatives to tackle the crime over recent years – which has led to some seizure of vehicles, dogs and convictions – their operations tend to remain reactive with most calls reporting coursing in progress being logged but not attended.

It is a common jibe from the hunting community that sabs will not take on coursing gangs and are only prepared to hit the ‘soft target’ organised crime of the local beagle packs. Nothing could be further from the truth – whenever our local groups encounter this wildlife abuse, we will intervene when able. 

However, as East Kent Sabs recently discussed after tracking down a courser, it is much harder for us to find, unlike an organised beagle or foxhound pack that have kennels, known supporters and meet locations. The incident reported at the head of the article was notable for the numbers involved but in our experience, the vast majority of coursing is conducted by smaller groups often with only one or two vehicles and a similar number of sight hounds.

The coursing gangs are frequently violent but most often only when in significant numbers. When confronted by a well-equipped sab group that will have more than likely already attracted a police presence to the area, they will make a run for it.

In conclusion, we anticipate the coursing of wildlife to continue unabated despite renewed police activity following the negative press of recent weeks. If we see it, we will sab it but in the meantime, we  encourage the public to report any suspicious activity out in the fields to the police as they continue to be vocal about their efforts to combat the practice. To echo East Kent Sabs sentiment, we only wish that they would devote just as many resources to the illegal activities of the beagle and foxhound packs!