Faced with the alarming situation that the giant panda found itself in in the late 1970s (with only 1,000 specimens left in the wild), several conservation strategies were adopted to save this symbolic animal from the “Celestial Empire”. More than 60 areas have been classified as “protected” in order to preserve the habitat. The mission was a success: there are now twice as many pandas in the wild as there were in 1970, and as of 2016 the species is no longer considered “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but still remains vulnerable.
When the happiness of some does not make others happy…
Is victory synonymous with good news for biodiversity? Not necessarily, warns a group of Chinese and American researchers specializing in ecology and ecosystem protection. In a study published August 3, 2020 in the journal Ecology of nature and evolutionthe latter specify that the ranges of 4 large predators living next to pandas: leopards, wolves, snow leopards and wolves – the Asian wild dog – have significantly decreased!
Faced with the alarming situation that the giant panda found itself in in the late 1970s (with only 1,000 specimens left in the wild), several conservation strategies were adopted to save this symbolic animal from the “Celestial Empire”. More than 60 areas have been classified as “protected” in order to preserve the habitat. The mission was a success: there are now twice as many pandas in the wild as there were in 1970, and as of 2016 the species is no longer considered “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but still remains vulnerable.
When the happiness of some does not make others happy…
Is victory synonymous with good news for biodiversity? Not necessarily, warns a group of Chinese and American researchers specializing in ecology and ecosystem protection. In a study published August 3, 2020 in the journal Ecology of nature and evolutionthe latter specify that the ranges of 4 large predators living next to pandas: leopards, wolves, snow leopards and wolves – the Asian wild dog – have significantly decreased!
These results come from data analysis conducted in 73 protected areas, 66 of which are home to pandas. Comparing data collected between 1950 and 1970 with photographs of these areas taken between 2008 and 2018, the researchers found that the range of the leopard was reduced by 81%, the snow leopard by 38%, the wolf by 77%. , and 95% for wolves. “These results point to the ineffectiveness of protective measures aimed at giant pandas to conserve large carnivore species.explain the researchers in their study.
Shrinking living space and poaching endangered large carnivores
Unlike pandas, large predators need to live in large spaces. Their home range – that is, the area they cover for feeding and breeding – can stretch for several hundred kilometers.2. The giant panda, which feeds mainly on bamboo, is completely satisfied with a more limited living space: from 5 to 13 km.2 enough for his happiness. Thus, the numerous small reserves created for black and white giants are too crowded for leopards, panthers, wolves and red wolves, which are also regularly poached.
“This study highlights a very important point: much larger areas need to be protected! Reserves should be of sufficient size to cover all habitats of all species.“, clarifies Michel Saint-Jalmes, researcher at the National Museum of Natural History at the Center for Ecology and Conservation Sciences.
Above all, this result can serve as a lesson for the design of future animal welfare measures: conservation strategies based on a single species, no matter how symbolic, should “make room for tactics that take into account the ecosystem as a whole“, – adds Michel Saint-Jalmes. – So that the protection of some benefits others …