Hoolock Gibbons, the only species of apes found in India, are threatened with extinction in the Ukhrul and Kamjong districts of Manipur, a report has claimed.
Try this PYQ from CSP2013:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
Protected area:: Well-known for
- Bhitarkanika, Orissa:: Salt Water Crocodile
- Desert National Park, Rajasthan:: Great Indian Bustard
- Eravikulam, Kerala:: Hoolock Gibbon
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Hoolock Gibbons
- The two districts used to be covered with dense, tropical rainforests, which provided ideal tree canopies for the arboreal, brachiating ape species.
- Rampant deforestation for timber, forest fires and indiscriminate hunting had led to the decline in their population.
- Without the tree canopies, the gibbons cannot swing from branch to branch and stake out their territories.
- They also cannot adapt to living on the ground and cannot bear the high temperatures brought about by the loss of green cover.
Conservation status (a/c to WWF India)
- The gibbon has a much wider range, as it is found in all the states of the north-east, restricted between the south of the Brahmaputra River and east of the Dibang River.
- Outside India, it is found in eastern Bangladesh and north-west Myanmar.
- The eastern hoolock gibbon inhabits specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and southern China and north-east Myanmar.
- Of the two, the western hoolock is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Redlist, while the eastern hoolock is listed as Vulnerable.
