Burgeoning relationship

The relationship between all the inhabitants still needs to be worked out, though. For example, the Sichuan section, which accounts for about 88 percent of the park's area, has about 40,000 residents, who in recent decades lived by working on mining and hydropower projects, according to provincial government data.

Now, authorities have started closing down such projects to stop all such intensive activities. They plan to finish the work by year-end.

To earn a living, many local people have moved into areas such as selling panda-related cultural items, cultivation of agricultural specialties and the development of a franchised tourism industry.

The panda's habitat, boasting altitudes that vary by thousands of meters and various climatic zones, is also home to other rare and ancient species. They include the dove tree, which is so rare it has been dubbed the "giant panda of the plant world", the takin, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey and the green-tailed rainbow pheasant.

In August, Zhang Jinshuo, a researcher with the Institute of Zoology at CAS, told China National Radio that protecting the giant panda means protecting its entire habitat.

"There are many creatures living with giant pandas in the habitat, including the crested ibis and forest musk deer ... these wild animals can be conserved while we protect the giant panda, which will produce an 'umbrella protection effect' because protecting the pandas will be like holding up an umbrella to shelter the other species," he said.

Contact the writer at lihongyang@chinadaily.com.cn