An odd little rat... And one of the few that share distribution with North America and Asia... Most 'shares' run more toward Europe.
And at least around here, they are in no danger of any sort of extinction. And they are under no sort of pressure by Man. They tend to live right at the treeline, or just above it in the barren shield country. 95% of that is never seen by man.
All that's up there is pika, marmot, mountain goat and bighorns, and most of it you can't even stand on.