Alpine pika
Ochotona alpina (Pallas, 1773)
The alpine pika (Ochotona alpina) is a species in the family Ochotonidae, order Lagomorpha. Recorded adults weigh about 150 g and live up to 3 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the alpine pika
- Weight
- 150 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 29.7 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.43src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 6.66 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2.06src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the alpine pika live?
Not recorded
What is the alpine pika?
The alpine pika (Ochotona alpina) is a species of small mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. The summer pelage of different subspecies varies drastically but, in general, it is dark or cinnamon brown, turning to grey with a yellowish tinge during the winter. The alpine pika is found in western Mongolia, eastern Kazakhstan, and Russia (Tuva, Irkutsk, Altai, and Krasnoyarsk), as well as in China (northern Xinjiang and Heilongjiang), in very cold, mountainous regions. It is a generalist herbivore, and mainly forages on mosses, tree branches, pine nuts, and plant stems. It can emit three series of different vocalizations: a long call, a short call, and an alarm call. It is rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.
From the Wikipedia article “Alpine pika” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alpine_pika&oldid=1313986168), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the alpine pika endangered?
The alpine pika is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the alpine pika classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderLagomorpha
- familyOchotonidae
- genusOchotona
- SpeciesOchotona alpina (Pallas, 1773)
Synonyms Lepus alpinus
Other names and names in other languages (5)
- Altai pikaEnglish
- Altai pikaEnglish
- Tagiin ogdoiMongolian
- Altaiskaya pischuhaRussian
- Gaoshan ShutuChinese
Relatives of the alpine pika
Other species in the same genus Ochotona.
Ladak pika
Ochotona ladacensis
Afghan pika
Ochotona rufescens
Plateau pika
Ochotona curzoniae
Northern pika
Ochotona hyperborea
American pika
Ochotona princeps
Large-eared pika
Ochotona macrotis
CompareAlpine pika vs Ladak pikaAlpine pika vs Afghan pikaAlpine pika vs Plateau pikaAlpine pika vs Northern pika
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the alpine pika?
An adult alpine pika weighs 150 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the alpine pika endangered?
The alpine pika is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the alpine pika live?
The alpine pika has a recorded lifespan of 3 years.
How long is the alpine pika pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 29.7 days.
What kind of animal is the alpine pika?
The alpine pika (Ochotona alpina) belongs to the family Ochotonidae in the order Lagomorpha.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Alpine pika (Ochotona alpina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-pika
“Alpine pika (Ochotona alpina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-pika.
@misc{alpine_pika_2026,
title = {Alpine pika (Ochotona alpina)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/alpine-pika},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}