© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

How Climate Change Could Be Killing One Of The Cutest Mammals In Idaho

Jim Jacobson

Scientists are paying close attention to the ways in which climate change may be impacting wildlife. In Idaho, one of the mammals dealing with the effects of changing conditions are American pikas. 

Pikas are related to rabbits and live in Rocky Mountains states. The curious animals, which have a distinctive call, can be spotted in places like the Sawtooths. They also hang out in the recesses of the Craters of the Moon National Monument.

Well, for now at least.

According to U.S. Geological Survey ecologist Erik Beever, pikas are in big trouble – especially in Great Basin mountain ranges. Beever says the animals are becoming more and more scarce.

“Temperatures where they’ve been lost from are warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter," says Beever. "The 'cooler in the winter' is a function of not having an insulating cover of snow.”

The ecologist says a 2003 study created alarm on the connection between climate change and pikas. But in 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the mammal under the Endangered Species Act.

Read more about Beever's research on pikas here.

Find Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill

Copyright 2015 Boise State Public Radio
 

Frankie Barnhill was the Senior Producer of Idaho Matters, Boise State Public Radio's daily show and podcast.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.