To professor Zhou Fang of Guangxi University's College of Animal Sciences and Technology, the discovery of Nonggang babbler (Stachyris nonggangensis) shows that Nonggang is a conducive natural habitat for the rare bird.

He and Jiang Aiwu, one of his graduate students, first saw the bird during a survey at the end of 2004. It took almost four years of study and fieldwork to confirm it's a new species.

According to the ornithologist, French missionaries from Vietnam visited the area as early as the 19th century. Many of them were zoologists and botanists like Father Armand David, who is best known for discovering the giant panda and introducing Pere David's deer to stately parks in Europe.