Black-lipped Pika

## About

A black-lipped pika emerging from it's burrow.

The black-lipped pika ***(Ochotona curzionae)*** also commonly known as the plateau pika, is a small mammal that inhabits the Tibetan plateau. Pikas have rotund bodies, thick light tan or grey fur, small rounded ears and large dark eyes. Their heads are black and the eyes are positioned towards the top of the skull. The snout is short, covered in whisker and the nose is small and dark brown. The pika has been considered a keystone species for the Tibetan ecosystem, serving as a plant fertiliser, seed disperser and a major prey item for almost all of the plateau's predators, including Tibetan foxes ***(Vulpes ferrilata)*** and Tibetan blue bears ***(Ursus arctos pruinosus)***. Along with this, the burrows made by the pikas often become the homes of lizards and small ground birds, once abandoned. Pikas are known to reach a weight of 100-200g (0.035-0.070oz). Though they are known to vary in size depending on their sex, the exact size differences are unquantified.

## Diet

Black-lipped pikas are herbivorous animals, consuming various forms of grasses, vegetation and grains. Depending on their habitat, a pika will use their surroundings to accommodate their foraged food items. To elaborate, pikas who live in meadows, grasslands or savannas will often store their foraged food in piles of hay, preserving them for later. Pikas which live in more arid regions are exempt of this behavioural adaptation, as the strong winds in these environments blow hay piles away. Foraging begins at sunrise, with the pikas also remaining active for the rest of the day periodically.

## Conservation Status

Throughout its Chinese and Tibetan range since 1958, the black-lipped pika has been culled through poisoning as a means of population control and preservation of livestock grazing land. Though this is most definitely leading to a population decline, the threat is not considered severe, as the species is highly adaptive and so the species is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

## Range and Population

Black-lipped pikas inhabit multiple countries and regions in south and east Asia, occurring in China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Tibetan autonomous region. Pikas are known to inhabit temperate mountainous and arid environments, ranging from elevations of 3,000-5,300m (9,842.52-17,388.4ft). As they are prolific grazers and they inhabit one of the world's largest grasslands; the Tibetan plateau, pikas have been blamed in the past for over-grazing areas of the region and decreasing the health of the plateau overall. This however, is untrue and studies have shown that pikas not only benefit the steppe, but they also prevent seasonal flooding and river droughts, by unintentionally storing water in their multi-chambered tunnel systems. The population of the black-lipped pika is unknown but likely large. It is also likely in decline, due to previously mentioned culling practices.

## Behaviour

Pika families are most commonly comprised of a pair and their litter of 5-10 juveniles (stemming from a minimum of two litters). The family will inhabit large tunnels that can reach up to 8m (26.2ft) and above in length and are constructed 20-40cm (7.8-15.7in) below the surface. It can observed that; plateau individuals typically have more complex burrow systems comparatively to desert individuals. This is typically attributed to the high abundance of food in meadow, steppe and plateau environments, when compared to arid environments.During the mating season of April-June, aggressive male on male competition for females. Though black-lipped pikas have exhibited both polyamory and polyandry, their most frequent mating system is monogamy. The other two systems are circumstantial, only really occurring when a new pika joins another family group, as a direct result of its mate dying. After a family group is formed, its members are kept well-bonded through in-fighting and aggression. It used to be thought that pikas would practice regular inbreeding to strengthen their relationships with their family group however, it is now known that 97% of young males typically leave their home range before spring in order to join a new family group, revealing that normalised inbreeding would be difficult. In fact, even some females will leave their family groups to join new ones and this behavioural adaptation is specifically evolved to limit inbreeding. Despite these adaptations however, the most successful black-lipped pika breeding occurs between family members. During the summer months (June-August), a female black-lipped pika births a new litter tri-weekly. Due to food availability increasing as summer progresses, each following litter will grow larger, resulting in a greater chance of survival. Due to the sheer amount of juveniles a single family may have, a mother pika will have to spend 62% of her time foraging, in order to gain enough energy to almost constantly gestate and lactate. Due to their short lifespan (approx. 490 days), female pikas may mate in the same summer of their birth. Pikas communicate in a variety of audial and tactile methods however, communication between pikas reaches its strongest during weaning, as juveniles mature their bonds with one another and their parents. A mother pika will rarely interact with her own young apart from nursing however, the father will actually spend most of his time with the young or protecting them, either looking out for predators, defining the home range or demonstrating high spacial awareness. After a three week period, the juveniles will go into a stage of learning, usually directed by their father.

### Relationship with Humans

Though pikas are often blamed for soil erosion and competition with livestock for grazing land, the species does not contribute to either of these problems.

## In Captivity

Due to their specialised lifestyles, black-lipped pikas cannot be housed in captivity.

## Sources

* IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41258/160699229
* Black-lipped Pika | Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Mammalogy - https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ochotona\_curzoniae/
* Plateau Pika | Exploring Keystone Species - https://media.hhmi.org/biointeractive/click/keystone/pika.html
* Life‐history traits and fitness of plateau pika (*Ochotona curzoniae*) in alpine meadow ecosystem | National Library of Medicine - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8796910/