![]() ![]() erythrotis is a white color in both pelts. In the summer, this species has a coat that is a rusty-red color at the head and chest and progressively becomes more grey at the tail end of the animal. The winter pelt is thicker for the cooler weather, and is a grey color with a slight tint of red in the ear region. This pika has both a winter and summer pelt. The Chinese red pika is one of the largest pika species, averaging a length of 18 to 29 cm. and is endemic to the East Qinghai, West Gansu and Northern Sichuan provinces of China and Eastern Tibet. The Chinese pika typically lives in rocky terrain at altitudes between 6 meters. Specific to the Chinese red pika has distinctive red color in its pelt. Typical of a pika it has short limbs, a small tail and round ears. Mr Li believes global warming is the cause of the decline in Ili Pikas as the altitude of permanent snow in the Tianshan mountain range has risen.The Chinese red pika ( Ochotona erythrotis) is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae. ![]() Last year's fresh census, which is when the Ili Pika was spotted for the first time in 20 years, concluded that the population is down to less than 1,000 pikas. Nearly 20 years later, in 2002, Mr Li conducted a new demographic, which found that the population had dropped to 2,000. When the Ili Pika was first discovered, Mr Li and his team estimated that there were around 2,900 animals living in the Tianshan mountain range. ![]() However, there are another four areas he has been unable to study, because he does not have enough funding for cameras to cover them. He recently set up heat sensitive cameras in two areas where he knows the pikas live in order to study their habits and record their numbers. Mr Weidong believes that numbers of ili pikas have declined by around 70 per cent since he first discovered them, but he cannot be sure. Human capture will accelerate the extinction.' Going extinct: Mr Weidong says that, since these image surfaced, people have begun asking him to capture the animals to keep as pets, and he has warned that would almost certainly wipe them out Groundbreaking: Mr Weidong (pointing to the spot where he discovered the creature) says he has also had to turn down dozens of requests from photographers to join him to see the pika for themselves 'Would they survive? Their population is already small enough. He said: 'Ili pikas, as alpine animals, can't adapt to the environment at low elevations without special facilities. Mr Weidong managed to attract more attention, and $23,000, to his cause after publishing images of the animal in March, but says that fame has now come at a price. Mr Weidong, who discovered the species in 1983 and has been working virtually alone to study it ever since, believes there are as few as 1,000 left in the wild, making it rarer than the panda.īut while the panda is central to global conservation efforts, with millions of dollars spent each year to keep the animals alive, the pika is not even recognised as endangered by Chinese authorities. Cute: There are fewer than 1,000 Chinese ili pikas left in the wild, making them rarer than pandas, and they were pictured for the first time in two decades earlier this year Endangered: Conservationist Li Weidong, who discovered the critter in 1983, says the exposure has helped him to raise money to help keep the animals alive - but has also come at a cost A distant relative of the rabbit, the incredibly rare creature had gone unseen for more than two decades until it was captured on film in March this year.īut fame has come at a price for the adorable animal, with conservationist Li Weidong warning that it may go extinct in the near future because people are trying to catch them to keep as pets. ![]()
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