SPEYSIDE gamekeepers are working with scientists to develop the best way to count the iconic mountain hare and help inform its future conservation.
Managing mountain hare numbers to prevent disease, damage to trees and habitats, and to control rising tick numbers is a controversial issue within the Cairngorms National Park.
Critics of population management fear Scotland’s only native lagomorph may have suffered declines in some regions and this has led to calls for greater monitoring of the way the species is managed and their numbers.