The Ili Pika - a rare mammal with a Teddy Bear-like face - has been snapped up by a lucky scientist.
Li Weidong, from the Xinjiang Institute for Ecology and Geography, is the lucky scientist in question and chanced upon the elusive mammal during an expedition in 2014.
Li Weidong is coincidentally the man responsible for originally discovering the species in 1983. While Pika spotting on the Tian Shan Mountains in China last summer, Li Weidong and his team rediscovered the dwindling species.
An excited Li Weidong did not miss the opportunity of clicking a picture of the elusive mammal, which was hiding behind a rock.
"They found it hiding behind a rock, and they realized they had found the pika," revealed Tatsuya Shin, a naturalist in China, to the National Geographic.
The Ili Pika is quite difficult to photograph and was spotted for the first time in the Tian Shan Mountains in 1983. The cracks and holes in the cliff serve as homes to the mammal. Just like their Pika counterparts in North America, the Ili Pika resides at elevations between 2,800 and 4,100 meters. Their diet comprises herbs, grass and mountain plants.
However, only 2000 of the Ili Pika remain in the wild and the IUCN Red List labels them endangered.
While scientists know where to look for the Ili Pika, capturing them on camera is a rare phenomenon. Considering only 29 Ili Pika have been spotted alive, Li Weidong's discovery is a rare one.
With the species' population declining by an alarming 55 percent in the past decade, conservationists aren't worried without reason. It is believed that climate change, air pollution and increased human activity are contributors. With temperatures steadily rising, the Ili Pikas are leaving their low elevation habitats to escape the rise in mercury.
Despite their steadily dwindling number, per Li Weidong, no concentrated efforts are being made to help the creature, which is a relative of the rabbit family. Li hopes that the rediscovery will aid his efforts in creating conservation areas for the Ili Pika.
To see the photograph captured by Li Weidong head to National Geographic.
