Abstract: Rapid development of economic always leads to ecological destruction and biodiversity reduction. Here, based on the “Dual-Evaluation” guidelines issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the distribution data of 24 rare and endangered animal species and various environmental factors in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), combined with MaxEnt model and GIS spatial analysis, we simulated the suitable distribution areas of rare and endangered animals. The results showed that: (1) The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the MaxEnt model for three types of rare and endangered animal species reached or being higher than 0.89, indicating a high credibility of distribution simulation. (2) The results of Jackknife test indicated that the importance of different environmental variables varied across different types of animals. Precipitation in the driest season, land cover type, and the monthly average of diurnal temperature difference were the most important factors for the potential distribution of birds, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians, respectively. (3) The suitable area for the conservation and protection of animals in the GBA was 2998.84 km², accounting for 5.27% of the total area of the GBA, and mainly located in Sevenstar Rock Park and Dinghushan in Zhaoqing City, Xiangtoushan in Huizhou City, Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve in Shenzhen City, and the Maipo Nature Reserve in Hong Kong. Our results provide scientific basis for biodiversity conservation and the protection of wild animals in the GBA.

Key words: biodiversity, species conservation, suitable distribution area, MaxEnt model, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.