You are the American pika, a small member of the rabbit family that the California Dept. of Fish and Game has agreed to designate as a candidate for protection under the California Endangered Species Act (ESA). It's the first step towards full protection in the state. The DFG is now seeking public comment on a proposal to list the pika as an endangered or threatened species.
Back in February 2010, the pika population was denied ESA protections by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Also, California denied a petition for ESA protections brought about by the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice. The state reconsidered when CBD and Earthjustice sued in 2009.
Since 2007, evidence has grown, showing that the pika is threatened by climate change. Rising temperatures have mostly driven pikas from warmer, lower-elevation regions of California, including the Bodie Hills of the eastern Sierra Nevada and the Lassen region of northern California. Pika populations in the Great Basin mountains of Nevada and southern Oregon are also shifting rapidly to higher elevations. Read the full report here.
Source: Kari Birdseye, Earth Justice.
