Black-lipped Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) lives in mountain rocky terrain. Himalayan mountain range. It feeds on grass and leaves. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Black-lipped Pika
- The plateau pika lives at heights between 3,100 and 5,000 metres, a range that covers most of the Tibetan Plateau. Within this band it occupies high alpine deserts, steppes, meadows and even tropical-subtropical montane forests. Its distribution spans China, India and Nepal, allowing it to thrive where few other mammals can survive. The extreme altitude also brings low oxygen and harsh weather that shape its daily life.
- As a keystone species, the plateau pika recycles nutrients in the soil while serving as prey for foxes, weasels, falcons, Asia pole cats, upland buzzards, owls and, in Hoh Xil, brown bears. Its extensive burrowing aerates the ground, improving soil health and creating microhabitats that raise plant richness. The tunnels also provide safe nesting sites for small birds and reptiles, linking the pika's activity to broader ecosystem diversity.
- Female plateau pikas can raise between two and five litters each breeding season, with each litter containing two to seven young and only three weeks separating births. The breeding period runs from April to August, during which families can expand rapidly and the newborns remain with the group for the rest of the year. Groups typically consist of three males and three to four females, and both parents help protect the offspring from predators.
- The plateau pika does not rely on extra fat stores; instead it can transform its white fat into brown fat, which produces heat without shivering. This conversion supports its high resting metabolic rate and non-shivering thermogenesis, allowing it to stay warm in the frigid alpine environment. The process is aided by the hormone leptin, which the species produces to boost thermogenic activity.
- To survive the thin air of the Tibetan Plateau the pika has a reduced maximum heart rate, which lessens cardiac strain where oxygen is limited. This lower rate, together with a strengthened myocardial connective tissue band, protects the heart and improves function at altitude. The animal also enhances oxygen regulation in its blood and tissues and reduces fatty-acid metabolism, further lowering hypoxic stress.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeHimalayan mountain range
HabitatMountain rocky terrain
DietGrass and leaves
About the Black-lipped Pika
In the lofty, windswept realms of the Himalayas, the black-lipped pika embarks on its daily quest for sustenance, its tiny paws barely making a whisper as it darts between the rocky outcrops and scrubby vegetation. With an air of quiet determination, this diminutive creature navigates the harsh, high-altitude landscape, its thick fur fluffed against the biting winds as it gathers grasses and wildflowers to store in its hidden caches. As the sun begins to set, casting a golden glow over the mountainous terrain, the black-lipped pika retreats to the safety of its burrow, its large ears twitching with a perpetual alertness to the world around it.
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