An animal resembling a rabbit to which it is closely related (family Leporidae), but larger and with larger ears. Hares are solitary or live in pairs, and so do not dig burrows, but give birth in shallow scrapes or nests of flattened grass called forms, and their young are precocial. Hares are swift runners and can leap high into the air. In spring, males chase one another to attain dominance and hares engage in ‘boxing’, when females seek to rebuff male would-be suitors. There are 32 species in the genus Lepus, distributed widely in the northern hemisphere.