7/5/2023 0 Comments Pika pika food![]() ( November 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ![]() Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. The species is currently considered threatened, mostly due to aggressive poisoning campaigns by Chinese populations, predominantly to eliminate competition for food with livestock. In addition to its role as a prey base, the plateau pika is important for soil health in meadows the burrowing of the species helps to aerate the soil. They also provide microhabitats by increasing plant richness and their burrows provides nests for small birds and reptiles.Īccording to the Chinese biologists who have studied the wildlife of the Hoh Xil (northern part of the Tibetan Plateau), plateau pikas are the favorite food of the area's brown bears. Plateau pikas are considered to be a keystone species as they play a role in recycling nutrients in soil, providing food to predators such as foxes, weasels, falcons, Asia pole cat, upland buzzard, and owls. The species is found in China, Pakistan, India, and Nepal in high alpine deserts, steppe and meadows, as well as tropical and subtropical montane forests. They prefer to live in elevations of 3,100 to 5,000 m, mostly in the Tibetan Plateau, which is where the common name originates from. The animals are reddish tan on the top-side with more of a whitish yellow on their under-belly. It is a small diurnal and non-hibernating mammal weighing about 140 g when fully grown. The plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae), also known as the black-lipped pika, is a species of mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae.
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