The research determined the concentrations of cadmium, lead and zinc in the internal organs of hare from different regions of the Małopolska province that are threatened to a various degree with industrial pollution. It was found that cadmium accumulation in the animal kidneys may provide the best indicator of environmental contamination with heavy metals. The hare from the north-west areas of Małopolska accumulated several times bigger amounts of cadmium than the animals living in the “clean” areas. In the case of lead the differences were smaller while the zinc concentrations found in the organs of the studied hare did not differ from the average level of this element shown by terrestrial mammals.

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