Northern pika
Ochotona hyperborea (Pallas, 1811)
The northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea) is a species in the family Ochotonidae, order Lagomorpha. Recorded adults weigh 120 g to 135 g and live up to 9.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the northern pika
- Weight
- 120 g – 135 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 9.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 29 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.07src 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
Photos of the northern pika
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the northern pika live?
Not recorded
What is the northern pika?
The northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea) is a species of pika found across mountainous regions of northern Asia, from the Ural Mountains to northern Japan and south through Mongolia, Manchuria and northern Korea. An adult northern pika has a body length of 12.5–18.5 centimeters (4.9–7.3 in), and a tail of 0.5–1.2 centimeters (0.20–0.47 in). The pika sheds its fur twice annually, bearing a reddish-brown coat in the summer and grayish-brown coat in winter. It feeds on various plant material and makes "hay piles" for winter use.
From the Wikipedia article “Northern pika” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_pika&oldid=1320192393), 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 northern pika endangered?
The northern 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. What the categories mean.
How is the northern pika classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderLagomorpha
- familyOchotonidae
- genusOchotona
- SpeciesOchotona hyperborea (Pallas, 1811)
Other names and names in other languages (5)
- Siberian pikaEnglish
- Nördlicher PfeifhaseGerman
- Ezo Naki-UsagiJapanese
- Severnaya PischuhaRussian
- Dongbei ShutuChinese
Relatives of the northern pika
Other species in the same genus Ochotona.
Ladak pika
Ochotona ladacensis
Afghan pika
Ochotona rufescens
Plateau pika
Ochotona curzoniae
American pika
Ochotona princeps
Large-eared pika
Ochotona macrotis
Turkestan red pika
Ochotona rutila
CompareNorthern pika vs Ladak pikaNorthern pika vs Afghan pikaNorthern pika vs Plateau pikaNorthern pika vs American pika
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the northern pika?
An adult northern pika weighs 120 g – 135 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the northern pika endangered?
The northern pika is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the northern pika live?
The northern pika has a recorded lifespan of 9.4 years.
How long is the northern pika pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 29 days.
What kind of animal is the northern pika?
The northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea) 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). Northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-pika
“Northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-pika.
@misc{northern_pika_2026,
title = {Northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-pika},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}