MR L Lawes (Letters, February 24) asks several pertinent questions about the hunting debate. My unbiased answers are:

The length of the chase depends on the animal being hunted. For stags, it can vary from a couple of hours to seven hours. Mink would be hunted for about three to four hours, while hares and foxes can be caught after about 20 minutes, but it often takes twice or three times as long as this.

With regard to the numbers of wild animals killed each year by hunters, the estimates are: Foxes, 20,000; stags, 80,000; hares, 15,000; mink, 400.

Mr Lawes asks if hunting is the prerogative of the rich. The answer is no -- all members of society take part.

Finally, he asks if a total ban on hunting would improve the conditions of wildlife in the countryside. Many people believe it would and give the following reasons.

While the hare does eat farmers' crops and can damage trees, the hare population has declined dramatically in recent years mainly due to the change in farming methods and is now classified as an endangered species. On that basis, the hare ought to be conserved rather than hunted.

Deer can cause considerable damage to forestry, arable and livestock farming interests and it is beyond dispute that the deer population must be controlled. The only argument is over how this should be achieved. Shooting is the preferred method.

Hunters claim that the mink is a vicious killer that will wipe out all wildlife if not controlled. This is not true. Mink hunting is notoriously inefficient but Devon's waterways still support a rich and varied wildlife 30 years after the mink's arrival.

And so we come to the fox. Hunters argue that because the fox has no natural predators, it must be controlled otherwise the fox population would explode and as a consequence livestock and wildlife would be at risk.

Aberdeen University tried a three-year experiment to see what would happen if foxes were left to their own devices. They discovered that the fox population remained exactly the same and that there was no increase in livestock losses due to predators.

Interestingly, the recent Burns Inquiry into hunting with hounds came to the conclusion that hunting seriously compromised the welfare of the hunted animal. I would agree.

MR R HARTLEY, Smith Street, Barnoldswick.