Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: TH
Context: Primatologists have proposed a solution to address the division caused by a 1.65-km long railway track within the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in eastern Assam, dedicated to the western hoolock gibbon.
- The sanctuary, home to about 125 hoolock gibbons, is facing habitat fragmentation due to the track’s presence, which has separated gibbon populations on either side.
- To counter this, scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have suggested constructing an artificial canopy bridge to enable the gibbons to move across the railway line.
- This would help maintain genetic diversity and support the survival of the endangered gibbons, which are highly sensitive to disruptions in their canopy habitat.
About Hoolock Gibbons:
- Gibbons, known as the smallest and fastest of all apes, inhabit tropical and subtropical forests in Southeast Asia.
Conservation Status:
International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List:
- Western Hoolock Gibbon: Endangered
- Eastern Hoolock Gibbon: Vulnerable.
- Schedule 1 of the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act 1972.
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, formerly known as the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary or Hollongapar Reserved Forest is an isolated protected area of evergreen forest located in Assam, India. The sanctuary was officially constituted and renamed in 1997.
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary contains India’s only gibbons – the hoolock gibbons, and North-eastern India’s only nocturnal primate – the Bengal slow loris.
