Hoolock Gibbon : Matter Of Concern At a Global Event
The conservation status of the hoolock gibbon, India’s only ape species, has become a matter of concern at a global event on gibbons held in China.
- Gibbons is the smallest and fastest ape and is found in tropical and subtropical forests in Southeast Asia.
- The hoolock gibbon, unique to India’s northeast, is one of the 20 gibbon species on Earth, with an estimated population of 12,000.
- All 20 gibbon species, including the hoolock gibbon, are at a high risk of extinction due to dramatic declines in their distribution and populations since 1900, leaving only small populations in tropical rainforests.
- The primary threat to the hoolock gibbon in India is the felling of trees for infrastructure projects.
- The Global Gibbon Network (GGN) aims to protect and conserve gibbons and their habitats by promoting participatory conservation policies and actions.
- Aaranyak, a non-profit conservation organization based in Assam, India, is one of the founding organizations of the GGN from seven countries.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List classifies the western hoolock gibbon as endangered and the eastern hoolock gibbon as vulnerable, which adds complexity to their conservation status.
