Royle's pika (''Ochotona roylei''), also called the Himalayan mouse hare or hui shutu, is a species of pika. It is found in

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Description

The most common pika species in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, it has a length of 17-22 centimeters. Royle's pika has a slightly arched head, with a rufous-grey body and chestnut-colored head, as well as sparse hair in front of its ears.

Distribution and habitat

This is the most common pika species in the

, and can be confused with the

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species s ...

large-eared pika. These species are mostly seen in the open rocky mountain edges or slopes, or on ground covered with conifer trees, such as

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, deodar and

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

forests. Royle's pika are a

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

foraging species, as they tend to be inactive during midday hours. Reduction of activity during the midday is also contributed to increasing temperatures, which causes heat stress on the species.Bhattacharyya, S., Adhikari, B. S., & Rawat, G. S. (2014). "Influence of microclimate on the activity of Royle's pika in the Western Himalaya", India. ''Zoological Studies'', 53(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40555-014-0073-8 During

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

season, foraging is encouraged due to greater food availability. The species has also been found near human habitation. It does not make its own nest; rather, it takes narrow creeks and existing burrow systems as its nest, filling it with hay piles and pine leaves. It also uses the rocky areas on the mountains to take refuge and escape from predators.

Conservation status

Though their conservation status according to IUCN Red List is "Least Concern", habitat loss and human habitation in hilly areas are the indirect cause of conservation threats towards them.

References

*Bhattacharyya, Sabuji (December 12, 2018). "Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle's pika,Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya". Ecology and Evolution. 9 (1). Retrieved October 15, 2020. *Smith, A.T.; Boyer, A.F. (2008). "Ochotona roylei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern. *Lissovsky, A.A. 2014. Taxonomic revision of pikas Ochotona (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) at the species level. Mammalia 78(2): 199–216. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1762352 Pikas Mammals of Asia Mammals of Nepal Mammals of Pakistan Mammals described in 1839 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot