---
title: "Cape Hare"
description: "Lepus capensis — Mammals. The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/cape-hare
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Cape Hare

> Lepus capensis — Mammals. The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.

- Scientific name: *Lepus capensis*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `savanna` (Savanna), `desert` (Desert)
- iNaturalist observations: 1276
- Wikidata: [Q748185](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q748185)
- iNaturalist taxon: [57560](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/57560)

## Names

- en: Cape Hare
- de: Kaphase
- es: Liebre del Cabo
- fr: Lievre Du Cap
- nl: Kaapse haas
- pt: Lebre-do-cabo
- pl: Zając płowy

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (238), IL (182), NA (50), DZ (31), KE (31), AE (27), TZ (15), IT (12), OM (11), IR (9), EG (5), MA (5)

## Summary

The Cape hare (Lepus capensis), also called the brown hare and the desert hare, is a hare native to Africa and Arabia extending into India.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_hare

## Photo

![Cape Hare](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/cape-hare/medium.jpg)

Photo: Dave Brown · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49330365

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/cape-hare?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).