Little Hope for Hoolock Gibbon!

Coming to the biodiversity of the North Eastern states of India, we come across another exotic creature of this region, the Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock). Hoolock hoolock is the only species of apes found in India.

Hoolock gibbons face numerous threats in the wild, and are now entirely dependent on human action for their survival. The debilitating threats include habitat encroachment to accommodate ever-growing human populations and immigration, forest clearance for tea cultivation, the practice of jhuming (slash-and-burn cultivation), hunting for food and “medicine”, capture for trade, and the degradation and decline in quality of their forests that impacts fruiting trees, canopy cover and the viability of their home ranges. Isolated populations face the additional threats arising from the intrinsic effects of small populations. Some populations surviving in just a few remaining trees are subjected to harassment by locals and to lack of food, and are attacked by dogs while attempting to cross clearings between forest patches.

Though there is no accurate figure available for the existing Hoolock hoolock but it has been observed that during the last 30-40 years, population of Hoolock hoolock has declined from 100,000 to nearly 80,000 in 1970 and it is now estimated to be some where around 5000 only. And this is a very small number and there is little hope for the Hoolock Gibbon to survive for a long time.

According to IUCN Category of threat (Hilton-Taylor, 2000) Hoolock hoolock falls in endangered (criteria: A1cd).

Thanks to the number of organization and the forest department of Assam that it has declared a Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam. This is just the beginning but more awareness is required for fruitful result.