Authorities in counties Clare and Tipperary have launched an operation to counter the practice of the illegal hunting and killing of hares.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One programme, David Lyons, District Conversation Officer for Co Clare and the Arran Islands with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, said groups of men from urban areas have been entering into lands without permission, with dogs, to hunt the hares.
"It obviously causes huge distress to the animal, but it also creates very threatening situations for landowners and local communities and has resulted in intimidation to those individuals as well," he said.
He described the trend of illegally hunting the animals as "a social media phenomenon" with betting and bragging.
"They're videoing the dogs in the process of catching the hare, and then showing the unfortunate results, the death of the hare, and in many cases, lining numbers of hares up on the ground in front of them and bragging to others who are partaking in a similar activity."
Alongside gardaí and Clare County Council, authorities have put in place targeted checkpoints in areas where hunting activity has increased.
"We've had a number of very successful briefing days with the gardaí informing each other about the powers involved, and there's been a success rate here in Clare with prosecutions and with the seizure of vehicles, and the seizure of dogs."
Mr Lyons explained that thermal imagers had also been seized, which he described as binoculars which show the heat from an animal.
"So, we've seen a reduction very recently in the number of cases, but I know that this is obviously a nationwide issue, and other colleagues are reporting high incidences in other parts of the country as well."
He advised the public to keep an eye out for individuals arriving in a vehicle together with a number of dogs in the back.
"If they see any... it's males only in this case, with greyhound/lurcher type dogs, enter into lands, then they should ring their local gardaí immediately."
He added that members of the public should keep their distance and if possible, take registration numbers and descriptive details of the individuals involved.
