‘The Magic Rabbit’ of China


Have you ever wondered if there are such things as magical rabbits? Well the answer is no, but there is an animal called the “Magic Rabbit.”

The “Magic Rabbit”, also known as the Ili pika, is a tiny creature that looks like a teddy bear. They live in the northwestern mountains of China. The Ili pika has to retreat to cold heights to keep cool. It was discovered by a Chinese conservationist, Li Weidong, in remote northwestern China and he named it after his hometown Ili, and by its family name pika. In June 2014, a group of volunteers took a photo of the Ili pika and dubbed it the “Magic Rabbit.”

The Ili pika only grows up to 20.5 centimeters in length and weighs between 215 ounces and 250 ounces, which is a small fraction of the weight of a child.

When Li first discovered the Ili pika, he had no idea what he had found. He asked people from his own town if they knew what the animal was, but they also had no idea. Two years later, Li found two other Ili pikas and declared them a new species. In 2002 and 2003, Li and a group of volunteers went to search for more Ili pikas but found out that their population was declining by studying their footprints in the snow. In 2008, it was put on the endangered species list. There are fewer than 1,000 of them in the wild.

Ili pikas may seem magical, but it may take more than a little magic to keep them from disappearing from the planet.

[Source: National Geographic & CNN.com ]

Very nice article Christian. I really enjoyed learning about the magic rabbit of china. Its so interesting to see that they only grow up to 20.5 centimeters in length, and only weighs between 215 and 250 ounces. Keep up the amazing work! – Sarah Useche , Verona Area High School (2016-10-15 11:02)
Yes I like it – It's a me , Mario (2018-11-09 04:09)
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