Humans out, wildlife in

"For nature reserve protection, an earthquake is a double-edged sword," says Xu Weihua from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "When landslides block roads, demolish houses and bury farmland, human beings have to withdraw, leaving their former homesteads to wildlife."

Since roads have been blocked in the Longxi-Hongkou nature reserve, people have been kept out of their former homes and wildlife has boomed. "Traces of musk deer, leopard cats and spotted deer can be found easily in those areas which were hot tourism spots and rarely saw wild animal traces," Xu says.

In nearby Shaanxi province, the earthquake also forced people out of the Qingmuchuan nature reserve.