Arctic hare in distress

How the animal of the year 2025 is threatened with extinction

To protect itself, the mountain hare allows itself to be snowed in up to 60 centimetres in its burrow

(Bild: APA)

More than almost any other high-alpine animal, the snow hare, which is white in winter, depends on a thick blanket of fluff. Without camouflage, it is an easy target for predators on brown slopes. But it is not only at the mercy of these predators.

With its long hind legs and thick fur, the mountain hare - the alpine version of the brown hare in the valley - is perfectly adapted to the harsh life in the mountains. But now the little survival artist has to fight against an opponent it cannot defeat: climate change.