Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
For the first time in over two decades, researchers have caught a glimpse at a tiny and elusive mountain-dwelling mammal known as the Ili pika, and after taking one look at the creature, it’s easy to see why: that much cute can only be handled in small doses.
The Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis), complete with its so-adorable-it-hurts teddy bear face, was first discovered by accident in the Tianshan Mountains of northwestern China in 1983, said National Geographic. Since then, the mysterious mammal has only been spotted a handful of times.
Weidong Li, a scientist at the Xinjiang Institute for Ecology and Geography and the person who first discovered the Ili pika, and a team of volunteers spotted one again in the summer of 2014. It emerged briefly the cliff face and allowed Li to capture a few photos before disappearing.
Ili peeking
Little is known about the creature’s behavior and ecology, the website reported. Li first located the species during an expedition to the China’s Xinjiang Province to study natural resources and infectious diseases. While exploring the region, he witnessed the small, gray head of an Ili pika sticking out from a crack in the rock, and was able to get close enough to see its whole body.
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The creature is described as being approximately eight inches (20 centimeters) long, with large ears and having gray fur with brown spots. Unfamiliar with the animal, Li captured a specimen and sent it to scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who reported that it was probably a new species. A second specimen captured in 1985 confirmed that it was a new species.
(We imagine it went a lot like this.)
According to Nat Geo, the Ili pika (like its North American cousins) lives at high elevations of between 9,200 and 13,450 feet (2,800 to 4,100 meters) and lives on a diet made up primarily of grasses, herbs and other mountain plants. It is also sensitive to its environment, and population estimates from the 1990s indicated that there were approximately 2,000 pikas living at the time.
“Grazing pressure from livestock and air pollution have likely contributed to the decline in the Ili pika, which IUCN lists as vulnerable to extinction. China considers the species endangered,” said Nat Geo. “Even so, there are no concerted efforts under way to help the Ili pika. Li… hopes to change that, and use the rediscovery of the animal to create conservation areas for the species.”
Preserving the cuteness
In 2005, Li and co-author Andrew T. Smith from the Arizona State University School of Life Sciences published a study on the Ili pika in the Oryx: The International Journal of Conservation which said that evidence of the creature was only found in six of 14 locations studied. In two of those six, it was said to be extinct, population numbers appeared to be declining in three others.
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“The Ili pika has a low population density and rate of reproduction. Additionally, populations on its preferred habitat of cliff faces are highly fragmented. Increased temperatures, possibly due to global warming, and increased grazing pressure may have interacted with the normal population dynamics of the Ili pika to contribute to its recent dramatic decline,” they wrote, recommending that the creature’s IUCN Red List status be upped from Vulnerable to Endangered.
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