Cloud‑Hugger in a Fur Coat: The Enchanting Tale of the Ili Pika. AI-Generated.
A Peek at the Peak‑Dweller
Picture the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China: sheer cliffs streaked with snow, air so thin it tastes metallic, and stonefields that seem empty at first glance. Then—blink—and a walnut‑sized nose pops out between the rocks. Meet the Ili Pika (Ochotona iliensis), a creature so elusive that scientists have nicknamed it the “magic rabbit.” Fuzzy, round‑eared, and no bigger than a hamster in winter fluff, it was unknown to science until ranger Li Weidong snapped its photograph in 1983. Since then, fewer than a handful of confirmed sightings have followed. In the grand catalog of Earth’s fauna, the Ili Pika is the ink blot everyone keeps smudging—there, then gone.
