American Pika Being Considered for Endangered Species Protection Due to Global Warming
The American Pika (Ochotona princeps), a small relative of the rabbit, may be facing extinction as warming temperatures eliminate Pikas from their alpine habitat. The USFWS is expected to decide by Feb. 1, 2010 if the American Pika will receive endangered species designation.
An alarming number of Pikas have already become early victims of global warming. They are believed to be regionally extinct in in some areas of the Great Basin mountains of Nevada and Oregon, where more than a third of the American Pika population has disappeared.
Pikas are highly adapted to their alpine environments. Their dense fur makes them susceptible to overheating, and Pikas will die if exposed to temperatures as low as 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pikas do not hibernate, but instead prepare for the winter by cutting and sun-drying vegetation for storage, which they consume in the winter. This haying activity has given the America Pika the nickname “ecosystem engineer”
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Although most closely related to hares and rabbits, Pikas resemble hamsters, and are roughly the size of a domestic rat. They communicate with a series of “peculiar short squeaks.”
Pikas are diurnal and live in colonies. They do not inhabit burrows, making them especially sensitive to warming temperatures, as they cannot seek refuge underground.
(And, they are sure are cute little buggers.)
Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimon/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
My fear is that we’re going to have so many similar headlines over the next few years; and worse headlines - the last … dies.
Meanwhile our political leaders cave in to oil, gas and manufacturing at the drop of a hat so we aren’t able to start minimising or remedying the situation.
Too paraphrase your last point:
Cute little buggers killed off by crafty little buggers.
I wouldn’t say politicians cave at the drop of a hat :), maybe a hat filled with thousands even hundreds of thousands of dollars. And now it’s all legal. The climate research has taken a big hit this year, it’s going to take some time to recover.