A pika (Ochotona princeps) at C-Cirque, above Upper Bankhead; Banff National Park.

The American Pika looks like a mouse or a hamster, but is in fact the smallest member of the rabbit family. They are between 16 and 22 cm (6-8 inches) long and weigh about 170 grams (6 ounces). These small animals may seem rather vulnerable, but they manage to live in an amazingly harsh habitat, usually above the treeline at elevations of 2.400-4.000 meters (8.000-13.000 feet). They live in rockslides where they gather flowers and other plant parts. Part of their finds is eaten immediately, but the other part is stored in special places between and underneath the rocks for the long winter season at these altitudes.

In behaviour they show some similarities with birds. This already becomes clear when you first hear them. If you haven't heard them before, you are more likely to look into the sky expecting a small songbird there. Their call is a high pitched sound, not unlike the call of a bird, and is used to warn others for predators (or approaching photographers). But the males of the species also sing during the breeding season! During the autumn, both sexes sing. I have not had the privilege yet to hear their song, but will return to this beautiful place again and hope for a nice concert.

This tiny animal has a very big and important message for us. They are in serious decline throughout their habitat and the main reason for that is climate change. Pika are extremely sensitive when it comes to temperature. They can survive the extremely harsh conditions in these rockslides with temperatures not seldomly dipping below -40 C in winter, living amongst avalanches throughout winter and spring, but when the temperature rises above 23 C, they can die within the hour! And temperatures have risen in the mountains in the past decades and the only way to escape the heat is going up. As the proces continues, that may sometimes be impossible because there simply is no suitable habitat higher up. But even if there are suitable places higher up, eventually there will simply no longer be a higher up, where they will then perish. This makes Pika a very important indicator of climate change. Nine out of 25 populations in America have already gone extinct in 2003 and the species has subsequently been placed on the IUCN Red List.

At the time of this writing, May 27 2007, news has just come out that in the Netherlands people are becoming more concerned about the environment and the climate and it is now number 4 on the list of concerns, after terrorism. Even though the Pika are far away from the Netherlands, the story of the pika is an example of a global proces that will affect the whole world. Even in Alberta, where the public has voted the environment the number 1 concern recently, this example should make the resolve to tackle the problem even stronger!

Image number: ASP9395AWMC