Plateau pika
Ochotona curzoniae (Hodgson, 1858)
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a species in the family Ochotonidae, order Lagomorpha. Recorded adults weigh 129.5 g to 131.5 g and live up to 2.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the plateau pika
- Weight
- 131.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 2.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 3.83 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 22.8 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.15src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 57.9 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2.25src 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 plateau pika live?
Not recorded
What is the plateau pika?
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), also known as the black-lipped pika, is a species of mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae.
It is a small diurnal and non-hibernating mammal weighing about 140 g (4.9 oz) when fully grown. The animals are reddish tan on the top-side with more of a whitish yellow on their under-belly.
It prefers to live in elevations of 3,100 to 5,000 m (10,200 to 16,400 ft), mostly in the Tibetan Plateau, which is where the common name originates from. The species is found in China, India, and Nepal in high alpine deserts, steppe and meadows, as well as tropical and subtropical montane forests.
From the Wikipedia article “Plateau pika” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plateau_pika&oldid=1314935574), 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 plateau pika endangered?
The plateau 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 plateau pika classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderLagomorpha
- familyOchotonidae
- genusOchotona
- SpeciesOchotona curzoniae (Hodgson, 1858)
Synonyms Lagomys curzoniae, Lagomys melanostoma, Ochotona daurica curzoniae, Ochotona melanostoma
Other names and names in other languages (16)
- Black-lipped pikaEnglish
- Black-lipped pikaEnglish
- pišťucha černolícíCzech
- Schwarzlippiger PfeifhaseGerman
- ylänköpikaFinnish
- פיקה שחורת-שפהHebrew
- クチグロナキウサギJapanese
- 고원우는토끼Korean
- 붉은입술우는토끼Korean
- SvartleppepikaNorwegian Bokmål
- ZwartlipfluithaasDutch
- szczekuszka czarnowargaPolish
- Pika-de-lábios-pretosPortuguese
- Черногубая пищухаRussian
- 高原鼠兔Chinese
- Gaoyuan ShutuChinese
Relatives of the plateau pika
Other species in the same genus Ochotona.
Ladak pika
Ochotona ladacensis
Afghan pika
Ochotona rufescens
Northern pika
Ochotona hyperborea
American pika
Ochotona princeps
Large-eared pika
Ochotona macrotis
Turkestan red pika
Ochotona rutila
ComparePlateau pika vs Ladak pikaPlateau pika vs Afghan pikaPlateau pika vs Northern pikaPlateau pika vs American pika
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the plateau pika?
An adult plateau pika weighs 131.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the plateau pika endangered?
The plateau pika is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the plateau pika live?
The plateau pika has a recorded lifespan of 2.5 years.
How long is the plateau pika pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 22.8 days.
What kind of animal is the plateau pika?
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) 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). Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/plateau-pika
“Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/plateau-pika.
@misc{plateau_pika_2026,
title = {Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/plateau-pika},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}