There is a creature on Earth that few people know about. This animal is very rare and is listed among endangered species. This is an Ili pika, a photo of which is presented in the article. It is sometimes also called the "magic rabbit" or hay bail.
The Iliyskaya pishuha is an animal of the genus of mammals of the family Pisuchovy, where it is the only one and numbering 31 species. This beautiful unusual animal has not been seen for more than 20 years.
Iliys Pishukha: Description
Allocate 31 species of pikas. The largest is not enough space in the palm of an adult, but the smallest of them can feel comfortable even on the palm of a small child. The appearance of the "magic rabbit" is very similar to hamsters.
These animals closely related to hares have a body length of 18-20 cm and a weight of 75-290 g, depending on the species. The tail of the pikas is completely inconspicuous, its length is not more than two centimeters. Their ears are rounded, short. The legs of the pika are almost identical in length, except that the hind legs are slightly longer than the front ones. They perform the function of moving along tight, sometimes vertical slots located in the rocks, and are also needed for digging holes.
Finger pads are bare, sometimes covered with hairs. Summer fur has a uniform color: gray, brown, red, sand. In winter, the coat is slightly lighter, gray tones prevail.
Habitat
The best habitats for pikas are places in which a cold climate prevails. There are species for which rocky mountainous terrain is suitable, where there are many slots on the slopes. There, some Ili pikas dig holes; for other species, this is a wonderful refuge from predators. Big-eared and red pikas often settle in large-scale scree; Altai sometimes populate the roots of trees and heaps of fallen trees.
Several types of senostavki chose steppe as their place of residence . The following pikushas are considered to be steppe inhabitants: Mongolian, Daurian, Black-lipped , and steppe. Pishuhs of Ili are colonial creatures, they live in whole settlements, in which sometimes there are from several tens to thousands of wonderful animals.
Habitat
This cute-looking “teddy bear” made itself felt only in 1983, when it was discovered by one of the specialists in the protection of natural resources. There are dozens of species of pikas, the habitat of which are different parts of our planet. Most of them are found in Asia, only two species are found in North America; only one species has entered European countries. In the mountains of the Tien Shan, in the north-east of China, at an altitude of 2800-4100 meters, approximately one thousand of these tiny animals live.
The next mission, when the Ili pika was captured by the camera, ended successfully only in 2014 in the summer. This happened on the territory of the Ili-Kazakh Autonomous Okrug in China. Reports about the find were sent to various media outlets, in which ecologists urged the population to stand up for the protection of unique representatives of the fauna. The reason for the decline in the population of individuals was climatic anomalies, as well as the excessive use of forest land by people for agricultural purposes.
Iliys Pishukha: lifestyle
I wonder why the pika Iliysky has the second name Senostavka? This was facilitated by one peculiar feature inherent in these individuals - to make haymaking for the winter period. The entire procurement process is very smooth and smart. First, pikas cut grass, then lay it out for further drying, choosing sunny places. If it rains, the stems of the grass are hidden. Finished hay is placed in the gaps between the stones, sometimes stacked in hacks. Animals do not fall into hibernation.
How much do we know about these small animals? What do they have in common with hares? The most significant similarity can be noted: for one and the other, the main food is woody, grassy stems, branches of shrubs and tree bark. Often, both the hare and the Iliys pika are used for nutrition by lichens, moss. For them, such a diet is the same.
One of the characteristic features that the Ilya pika possesses is its sonorous squeak, with which it warns the rest of the individuals about the dangers. Pisukha got its name because of these far-reaching signals. Its life expectancy is high when compared with the life of other steppe species of small animals.
The Iliysk Pishukha leads an active lifestyle both in the daytime and at night. The female begins to mate in early May, and in early June already brings the first litter. The offspring grows very slowly, the reason for this is the food supply. There are females that do not mate, some give only one litter for the entire season.
Environmentalists gave the name "magic rabbit" to a pika because it very rarely comes into human sight. This is the cutest animal in the world at the moment is on the verge of extinction.