The short answer is no, rabbits and hares can't cross breed, says Sheena Harvey. There are many reasons why animals with seemingly very similar physical features and occupying similar habitats are nonetheless sexually incompatible, and these begin with their scientific classifications.
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Why can't hares and rabbits cross-breed?
Although both animals are classed by biologists in the Linnean taxonomic order of Lagomorphs, and below that the family of Leporidae, they then split off into quite different genera. The rabbit group species are divided into 11 living genera, depending on where they are commonly found, and two extinct ones. Hares occupy just one genus, the Lepus.
Scientific names aside, the assumption that animals that share relatively similar outward appearances must therefore be capable at times of cross breeding, is fostered by some of the common names the various species of rabbits and hares have been given across the world.
The jackrabbit of central and western United States, for instance, is actually a hare. Meanwhile, the hispid hare of South Asia and the red rock hares of southern Africa are, in fact, types of rabbit. The pet trade hasn’t helped by calling one variety of domestic rabbit the Belgian hare, just because it has been selectively bred with long ears and legs to resemble a hare. There might also be a desire to trade on perceived exclusivity, as true hares have never been domesticated.
Apart from physical differences in size and structure of the hind quarters, hares and rabbits have one striking genetic difference that would preclude a hybrid - hares have 48 chromosomes, rabbits only 44. The differing numbers would prevent the chromosomes from lining up and cause a mismatch in the genetic code. In the case of a pairing between a horse and a donkey, the mismatch of 32 horse chromosomes to 31 donkey just about works and leads to the birth of a mule or a hinny, but that animal will be infertile because the chromosomes can’t line up.
The lifestyles of rabbits and hares also don’t lend themselves to intermixing. Although some species can share habitats, hares tend to live above ground, solitary or in small groups, rabbits live in communal burrows, apart from the cottontail in the Americas. That species makes an above-ground nest lined with grass and fur and, if threatened, they will use another animal’s burrow for shelter.
Female hares are only fertile for five months of the year while rabbits, notoriously, breed all year round, producing litters three times the size. The ritual and act of rabbit copulation is quite sedate, involving the male (buck) and the female (doe) circling and nuzzling, sometimes quietly humming, before a quick hop on and off.
Female hares, by contrast, have a short period of only a few hours during which they are willing to entertain a male, the jack. Prior to that golden period they will fend off unwelcome approaches with powerful ‘boxing’ moves. Only when she, the jill, is ready will she initiate the next step which involves leading aspiring males on a lengthy high-speed chase before submitting to the most tenacious that has proved itself by surviving the stamina test.
It's hard to imagine how two such contrasting habits could ever lead to a pregnancy, even if their genetics were aligned.
