The conservation efforts conducted in China in order to protect the giant panda ended up benefiting other endangered animals including different species of mammals, birds and amphibians.

One way or the other, people have strong opinions about whether we should bother saving giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). “We want to help the Chinese authorities, both at the provincial level and also, naturally, to focus the debate on which areas they should protect”, Pimm says, “not just to protect pandas but to protect other species, too”‘. A study lead by Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, also highlighted areas that required more observance.

Because the conservation efforts proved to be extremely good, researchers at the Duke University suggested other areas that should implement rules in order to protect the endangered species that live there.

“China has spectacular protected areas with exceptional numbers of species found nowhere else on Earth”, Stuart L. Pimm, professor of conservation ecology at Duke, said in a news release.

“The fact that there’s a lot of other species included in those reserves is a real bonus for conservation”, says Ben Collen of University College London in the UK. The researchers wanted to see if the giant panda can function like a protective umbrella for others in protected areas since the animal’s geographic range overlaps with 31 percent of amphibians, 70 percent of mammals and 70 percent of birds in the forests of mainland China, as well as identify other conservation areas and high-priority species that may have been neglected.

Pimm explained that endemic species usually have small geographical ranges and have the highest tendency to go extinct. Panda proponents have countered that saving the bears can help other animals who share the same habitats-but the evidence has been squishy. Based on their findings, they showed that most of the native species are located in southwestern China’s mountains, specifically the Sichuan province, where giant pandas are now thriving because of the numerous nature preserves established for their protection.

“There are gaps in the coverage of some species”, said Binbin Li, the paper’s lead author and a Ph.D. student working with Pimm. For their study, she and Pimm came up with a comprehensive database tracking species distribution using maps put together by hundreds of naturalists.

The golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a forest mammal species found in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province. The research found that 14 of China’s endemic forest mammals, as well as 20 birds and 82 amphibians, are not presently protected by the giant panda’s current reserves. Of particular interest were those species that live only in China.

Blue sheep are among several species that have benefitted from habitat conservation connected to protecting the giant panda.

Knowing the success of the panda, the researchers then created a map predicting specific locations where threatened, but overlooked, species could survive. The providence of Sichuan lies within this area, and is where the panda nowadays survives throughout the nature preserves set up for them. This enabled them to make an even more specific prediction of which areas would provide more protection to a wider range of species.

She hopes the new survey, which identifies the most significant gaps in habitat protection, is used by the Chinese government and conservation programs to better protect the panda’s neighbors.