The Ili Pika, a rare and rabbit-like creature, was seen alive and photographed for the first time in 20 years.

The Ili Pika is an endangered animal that is native to the Xinjiang region of China, in the Tianshan mountain range. The teddy bear-like animal was photographed for the first time in 20 years, after it was believed by some to be almost extinct.

The Ili Pika is sometimes being referred to as the magic rabbit and it was spotted a few months ago. The Ili Pika is even rarer than the elusive Panda bear.

Chinese officials estimate that there are less than 1,000 Ili Pikas in the China and the world. Scientists admit that the official figures could very well be wrong, because of the elusiveness of the animal.

The animal is supposed to be diurnal, which is why scientists were very concerned about the numbers of Ili Pikas being very low. This recent spotting is the first since the early 90’s, which makes the Ili Pika one of the most elusive and endangered species in the world.

While some scientists attribute the animal’s elusiveness to their remote habitat, others believe that there really aren’t many Ili Pikas left in China, which is why the sightings are so rare.

The Ili Pika live at very high altitudes, where not many people go. They are very sensitive to warm temperature, which means that the present global warming must have been one of the reasons why their numbers have dropped so drastically. As the planet warms up, the Ili Pikas retreat higher in the mountains, until they have nowhere else to go.

Li Weidong, Chinese conservationist, was the man who discovered the Ili Pika in 1983. He was also the person who took the most recent photograph of the Ili Pika.

He stated that the species could become extinct at any time and that he noticed that there simply aren’t any Ili Pikas in areas where they used to be in the past.

The most shocking piece of information is that the Ili Pika is not featured on China’s List of Wildlife under Special State Protection, a part of China’s Wildlife Protection Law, 1988 and it there is no plan to put it there.

Li Weidong hopes that a conservational organization soon becomes interested in the Ili Pika, so that the tiny creature has a chance at surviving.

Image Source: Daily Mail