Unexpected recent discovery of the endangered Hainan hare Lepus hainanus from northeastern Hainan Island, China

The Hainan hare Lepus hainanus is an Endangered lagomorph endemic to Hainan Island in southern China. It is amongst the most understudied lagomorphs in the world and was recently uplisted to critically endangered on the country’s red list due to habitat loss and excessive hunting. Here, we report an opportunistic roadkill record from Wenchang City, which is ca. 200 km away from the current known distribution and represents the first documentation of this poorly known species from northeastern Hainan Island since the 1980s. A comprehensive survey to understand its current distribution, status and threats across Hainan is imperative in order to develop informed conservation decisions.