Group Seeks Protection For Pika,|A ‘Remarkable Little Mammal’

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Center for Biological Diversity sued the California Fish and Game Commission for refusing to protect the American pika under the California Endangered Species Act. The thick fur and high metabolism of the "remarkable little mammal," which is related to the rabbit, make it so vulnerable to heat stroke that pikas have been called "early sentinels of biological response to global warming."

Human-induced global warming is changing its high-elevation habitat in the Sierra Nevada, the Center says in its petition for writ of mandate.

The Center for Biological Diversity sued California in Superior Court. It filed a similar complaint against the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in Sacramento Federal Court.

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