Ili Pika
Mountain for #10daysfloraandfauna
I nearly didn't continue with the challenge. I was feeling a bit down about my work this week but I figured out that it was because I was trying so dang hard to keep up with everyone else and not doing pieces that I loved.
So I've gone back to what I know, simple shapes, colours and outlines. And I'm glad I did because I'm so much happier with this than almost anything else I've created this week.
The Ili pika is endemic to northwest China, specifically the Tian Shan mountains. First discovered in 1983 it was then not seen again until 2014 and their population is declining - likely because of climate change.
Larger than most other pikas (but still only growing to a tiny 20cm) it inhabits the mountains at around 2,800 - 4,000 meter elevations. There's little known about them but it's thought that they're diurnal and that around 1,000 individuals are left in the wild