Lepus habessinicus Hemprich and Ehrenberg 1832

Lepus habessinicus Hemprich and Ehrenberg 1832, Symbolae Physicae, Mammalia, dec. 2: folio p, page 2, plate 15, f. 2.

Type Locality: "East coast of Abyssinia, Near Arkiko." (G. M. Allen, 1939:275.) .

Vernacular Names: Abyssinian Hare.

Synonyms: Lepus abyssinicus Lefebvre 1850; Lepus berberanus Heuglin 1861; Lepus cordeauxi Drake-Brockman 1911; Lepus crispii Drake-Brockman 1911; Lepus somalensis Heuglin 1861; Lepus tigrensis Blanford 1869 .

Distribution: Djibouti, E Ethiopia, Somalia, perhaps NE Kenya.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus undetermined. "This hare apparently replaces the Cape hare in the open grassland, steppe, savanna and desert habitats..." (Flux and Angermann, 1990) in the Horn of Africa. Azzaroli-Puccetti (1987 a, b) provides evidence of full species status. "... appears to be sympatric with ‘ capensis ’ [hawkeri] and ‘crawshayi’ [microtus] in... Somalia and Ethiopia." (Petter, 1972:4).