Arctic Hare Collections

Photographs and Other Media | Specimens

Photographs and Other Media

David Gray's research on Arctic hares at Sverdrup Pass and in Polar Bear Pass (both now in Nunavut) was an observational study. The photographs, Super 8 and 16 mm films and videotapes that document the research are stored in the Archives of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The photographs used in this Web site represent only a small fraction of the thousands of Arctic hare photographs in the collection that resulted directly from this research. Similarly, hundreds of hours of footage provided the videos used in Ukaliq: The Arctic Hare.

Specimens

During the research on Arctic hare behaviour at Sverdrup Pass, the only specimens collected by David Gray and his team were hares found dead or old skulls and hind feet. Hind feet are commonly found because most predators don't eat this part.

The Canadian Museum of Nature's Mammalogy Collection includes 361 specimens of Arctic hares. Stored in steel cabinets under controlled temperature and humidity, these specimens were collected as part of specific research projects on Arctic hare ecology and taxonomy. Some were collected specifically to represent different geographical variations, some to show growth and development. Hares found dead or shot for food were collected for their skeletons.

Some of the Arctic hare specimens (skins and skulls) in the Mammalogy Collection of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The specimens in the museum's collection were collected between 1885 and 1978. They represent a geographical range from Banks Island, Northwest Territories, in the west of their range, to Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, in the north, and east and south to the Ungava region of Nunavik (northern Quebec). There is a noticeable gap in the collection, for there are no specimens from Newfoundland and Labrador. (Nor are there any at the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador).

Particular Arctic hare specimens in the collection are associated with many well-known northern scientists, historical figures (Captain Robert Bartlett, Dewey Soper and even John Hornby), Inuit hunters and RCMP officers.

One-third of the specimens are complete with skin, skull and skeleton preserved separately. Others have only the skin or skeleton, and two are entire young hares preserved in alcohol.