Researchers just recently photographed this extremely cute, endangered mammal for the first time in 20 years

Say hello to the Ili pika:





This furry ball of cuteness is an endangered mammal closely related to rabbits and hares. The species was first discovered in 1983 and individuals have rarely been seen since.



It was first spotted in the Tian Shan Mountains in China, where it makes the holes and cracks of the cliffs its home. Despite other family of pika living across the Northern Hemisphere, these mountains are the only place this Ewok lookalike seems to feel at home.

Although scientists know where to find the Ili pika, it's still extremely hard to get on camera. For example, between 2002 and 2003 two researchers, Andrew Smith at Arizona State University and Li Wei-Dong at the Xinjiang Academy of Environmental Protection in Beijing, completed seven trips to twelve different sites to study population status of the animal. After 37 total days of attempted spottings, the two men came up completely empty handed.

Then, last summer, the man who originally discovered the species in '83, Weidong Li, had a chance encounter with the elusive creature. He and a group of researchers were out in the Tianshan Mountains for, what else, pika spotting, when around noon they saw one and snapped the iconic picture above.

Only 29 of these individual animals have been seen alive. A rare find, indeed!


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/researchers-just-recently-photographed-this-extremely-cute-endangered-mammal-for-the-first-time-in-20-years/ar-BBivNLC

IT'S probably hiding out in those holes and cracks in those remote mountains in China, so that passing travellers don't mistake them for stuffed toys, and take them home to put in their Christmas stockings !