American Pika

American Pika, Ochotona princeps

Found within the order Lagomorpha alongside rabbits and hares, the American Pika can be found in alpine regions of the western United States and southwestern Canada. They live near mountain meadows on rock faces, cliffs, and rocky areas known as talus. Their diet is composed of grasses and herbs which pikas cut and dry to form hay piles for winter consumption. This densely furred species does not hibernate. Instead, they spend most of their time in their den during winter along with the rest of the colony.

Unfortunately for the American pika, they have become a symbol of global warming. The threat of climate change not only threatens this species arguably more than the polar bear, but they may be among the first to extinction. Already living at a high elevation, the pika has no place to migrate to when temperatures rise. A den does not mitigate extreme temperatures like a burrow does, nor has the American pika evolved to migrate large distances. The curing of vegetation, a period of high activity, would occur during hotter temperatures which could create direct thermal stress on a creature that cannot dissipate heat easily.

Studies on climate change and the American pika are still conflicting. This may be due to the lack of many long-term studies. As this species lives in isolated colonies, there is some hope that a complete extinction will not happen. The effects of global warming on sensitive species such as the American pika have been gaining more attention and more monitoring. This not only allows better prediction for the survival of this species, but others like it as well.