BC Conservation Data Centre: Conservation Status Report
Ochotona princeps
American Pika
| Scientific Name: | Ochotona princeps |
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| English Name: | American Pika |
| English Name Synonyms: |
Common Pika
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| Provincial Status Summary | |
| Status: | S5? |
| Date Status Assigned: | March 22, 2024 |
| Date Last Reviewed: | March 22, 2024 |
| Reasons: | This species is scattered through central and southern British Columbia, restricted to rocky slopes in the mountain ranges. Climate change is a threat that needs to be quantified for this species. |
| Range | |
| Range Extent: | G = 200,000-2,500,000 square km |
| Range Extent Comments: | This species is found in disjunct populations through the coastal and interior mountains on the mainland of BC north to approximately half the province. It is not found on any of the islands (Nagorsen 2005b, iNaturalist; accessed February 2024). |
| Area of Occupancy (km2): | U = Unknown |
| Occurrences & Population | |
| Number of Occurrences: | DE = 81 to >300 |
| Comments: | Based on ~100 specimen and sighting records in Nagorsen (2005) and over 500 observations on iNaturalist (accessed February 2024). |
| Number of Occurrences with Good Viability / Ecological Integrity: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Number of Occurrences Appropriately Protected & Managed: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Population Size: | Rank Factor not assessed |
| Threats (to population, occurrences, or area affected) | |
| Degree of Threat: | U = Unknown |
| Comments: | Climate change and the restricted availability of habitat for this species to move into has been cited as a serious and imminent threat to the species, often using interpretations of model based approaches (e.g. Calkin et al. 2012, Stewart et al. 2015). There have been more recent assessments that have measured the potential threat and found it to be significant for populations in marginal habitats and on the periphery of their range (Smith 2020, Billman et al. 2023) but not necessarily as far-reaching and immediately dire as modeled. So although climate change is a threat, and must be seriously considered, the quantified impact for this species in BC is yet to be determined and the models refined. Other threats may include mining and human disturbance. |
| Trend (in population, range, area occupied, and/or condition of occurrences) | |
| Short-Term Trend: | U = Unknown |
| Long-Term Trend: | U = Unknown |
| Other Factors | |
| Intrinsic Vulnerability: | U=Unknown |
| Environmental Specificity: | C=Moderate. Generalist or community with some key requirements scarce. |
| Other Rank Considerations: | |
| Information Gaps | |
| Research Needs: | |
| Inventory Needs: | |
| Stewardship | |
| Protection: | |
| Management: | |
| Version | |
| Author: | Ramsay, L. (2024), Nagorsen, D. and L. Ramsay and Teucher, A.C. (2015) |
| Date: | February 26, 2024 |
| References | |
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Billman PD, Beever EA, Westover ML and Ryals DK. 2023. Spatio-temporal variability in the strength, directionality, and relative importance of climate on occupancy and population densities in a philopatric mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps). Front. Ecol. Evol. 11:1202610.
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Calkins, M.T., Beever, E.A., Boykin, K.G., Frey, J.K. and Andersen, M.C., 2012. Not-so-splendid isolation: modeling climate-mediated range collapse of a montane mammal Ochotona princeps across numerous ecoregions. Ecography, 35(9), pp.780-791.
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Nagorsen, D. W. 2005b. The rodents and lagomorphs of British Columbia. Royal B.C. Mus. Handb., Victoria, BC. 410pp.
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Smith,A.T. 2020. Conservation status of American pikas (Ochotona princeps), Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 101, Issue 6, Pages 1466?1488
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Stewart, J.A., Perrine, J.D., Nichols, L.B., Thorne, J.H., Millar, C.I., Goehring, K.E., Massing, C.P. and Wright, D.H., 2015. Revisiting the past to foretell the future: summer temperature and habitat area predict pika extirpations in California. Journal of Biogeography, 42(5), pp.880-890.
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for information on how the CDC determines conservation status ranks. For global conservation status reports and ranks, please visit the NatureServe website http://www.natureserve.org/.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2024. Conservation Status Report: Ochotona princeps. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).