Endangered Species Prompt China to Plan Four New National Parks

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China's endangered giant pandas, Tibetan antelopes, Asian elephants, Siberian tigers, and Amur leopards may get new parks to call home.

The country is considering creating four new national parks dedicated to protecting these endangered species, as part of a larger plan to introduce new national parks to its terrain, according to Lonely Planet.

According to Yao Sidan, head of Sichuan's provincial forestry department, the panda park will be located in the Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, and will target the panda’s native habitat while hosting nature reserves, parks and scenic areas.

For Siberian tigers and Amur leopards—which face threats from poaching, logging, and development—the proposal includes a 15,000-square-kilometer park in the Jilin province.

China has been working to alleviate several of these threats, having banned logging in the Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, cancelling a major highway project, and clearing around 80,000 snares that were set by poachers to catch deer, boar, and tigers, according to Science magazine.

Part of the challenge will be ensuring that locals who make their living from logging and poaching can find alternatives, which is why efforts are being made to train them for new careers like organic honey farming, and to introduce park ranger and conservation worker jobs for around 30,000 former forest workers.

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The plans are still in the proposal stages and have yet to be formalized by the Chinese government, according to Lonely Planet.

China's endangered giant pandas, Tibetan antelopes, Asian elephants, Siberian tigers, and Amur leopards may have new parks to call home.

The country is considering creating four new national parks, dedicated to protecting these endangered species, as a part of a larger plan to introduce a slew of new national parks to its terrain, according to Lonely Planet.

Getty Images

According to Yao Sidan, head of Sichuan's provincial forestry department, the panda park will be located in the Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, and will target the panda’s native habitat while hosting nature reserves, parks and scenic areas.

For Siberian tigers and Amur leopards, who face threats from poaching, logging, and development, the proposal includes a 15,000-square-kilometer park in the Jilin province.

China has been working to alleviate several of these threats, having banned logging in the Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, cancelling a major highway project, and clearing around 80,000 snares that were set by poachers to catch deer, boar, and tigers, according to Science magazine.

Part of the challenge will be ensuring that locals who make their living from logging and poaching can find alternatives, which is why efforts are being made to train them for new careers like organic honey farming, and to introduce park ranger and conservation worker jobs for around 30,000 former forest workers.

The plans are still in the proposal stages and have yet to be formalized by the Chinese government, according to Lonely Planet.

Talia Avakian is a digital reporter at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter at @TaliaAvak.