Rare Cute Ili Pika Photographed for First Time in Over 20 Years

Posted on March 25, 2015

The adorable Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis) has been photographed for the first time in over two decades. The furry rabbit-like creature is very rare. It lives in the Tianshan Mountains in northwestern China.

The creature was first discovered in 1983 by Weidong Li, a scientist at the Xinjiang Institute for Ecology and Geography. Li went with a new team last summer to try and find the Ili pika again. National Geographic reports that the team found an Ili pika hiding behind a rock on their expedition.

Tatsuya Shin, a naturalist in China who works with the pika's discoverers, told the National Geographic, "They found it hiding behind a rock, and they realized they had found the pika. They were very excited."

The Ila pika is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There were estimated to be 2,000 of them in the world in 1990s and there are thought to be less today. Not much is known about the creature, but it is believed to be diurnal. It is found at elevation of 2,800 meters to 4,100 meters. The Ili pika builds hay piles and is a herbivore. They produce one to two litters each year. The litter size is unknown.

A CNN story on the endangered pika says the creature has also been called the "magic rabbit." CNN also says there are now thought to be less than 1,000 of them. Li is working on trying to establish a nature reserve to help protect the species. He says a lack of official recognition for the Ili pika is currently a bigger problem than the lack of funding.

Li told CNN, "This tiny species could be extinct any time. They don't exist in the sites where they used to be anymore."

ANIMALS