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Article History

Received: 15 December 2020

Revised: 22 September 2021

Accepted: 23 September 2021

First Online: 1 October 2021

Declarations

:

: The authors confirm that the ethical policies of the journal, as noted on the journal’s author guidelines page, have been adhered to. Ethical clearance was granted by the animal welfare body of the Georg-August-University of Goettingen (Ref. E8/20). Live-handling of hares in Italy was performed by veterinary personnel and took place on behalf of the hunting management bodies as a health surveillance of wild lagomorphs that are designated for restocking. Sampling was therefore not conducted for the purpose of this study. Hares from Germany, Hungary, Sweden, UK, the Netherlands, and Spain originated from carcasses or legally hunted hares; thus, ethical approval was not required. No hares were purposely shot for this study. Authorization for sample import from Spain was granted by the Ministerio para la Transición ecológica (Ref. ESNC25) as required by the Nagoya protocol.

: Not applicable.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.