Notes:

The Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a medium-sized lagomorph (c140g) that occurs mainly on the high desert plateaux of China, but also in Tibet, Pakistan, India and Nepal. They look a bit like Gerbils but are in the same family as rabbits and hares, but have oddly human ears. It gets really cold in winter on the Tibetan Plateau yet they do not hibernate, being active year round. They are also only active during the day when they feed on grasses and sedges, sleeping in their burrows at night. They also occur in extraordinary abundance and are the main prey item for most of the predators that occur on the plateaux (Tibetan Fox, Pallas's Cat, Chinese Mountain Cat, Saker Falcon, Upland Buzzard, Steppe Eagle, Eagle Owl). I photographed this courting couple in the snow at Rouergai nearly 4000m on the Tibetan Plateau. There was a blanket of snow on the ground but they prepare for that by keeping a store of hay in their burrows, to get them through the times when snow covers their feeding grounds.