American pikas live primarily on the alpine tundra of Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. They spend their summers gathering mounds of grass to dry in the sun, then stay active all winter under the snowpack eating their summer's work. Unlike their lower-elevation cousins in the rabbit family, pikas have small ears and feet, a characteristic of warm-blooded animals living in cold locations.

Pikas in Peril is a research project being conducted by the National Park Service, to monitor and understand population dynamics of pikas. In a warming climate, pikas may be affected because in some locations they cannot move to higher and cooler elevations. Great Sand Dunes National NPP is one of the parks selected for this study.

Credits and Sources:

“Great Sand Dunes: Mammals,” National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/nature/mammals.htm, Accessed on June 28, 2015.