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10 - Challenges and Prospects in the Conservation of Hoolock Gibbon in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2023

By
Dilip Chetry ,
Rekha Chetry  and
Parimal Chandra Bhattacharjee
Edited by
Susan M. Cheyne ,
Carolyn Thompson ,
Peng-Fei Fan  and
Helen J. Chatterjee
Susan M. Cheyne
Affiliation:
Borneo Nature Foundation
Carolyn Thompson
Affiliation:
University College London
Peng-Fei Fan
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-Sen University, China
Helen J. Chatterjee
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

Western hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) and eastern hoolock gibbons (Hoolock leuconedys) represent the ape group in India. The seven northeastern states (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur) support the entire gibbon population in India, where their distribution is limited to the southern bank of the Dibang–Brahmaputra River system. Rapid loss of habitat, habitat fragmentation and hunting are the major threats to hoolock gibbons in India. The launch of the Indo-US Primate Project provided motivation to conserve the hoolock gibbon in the region. Research, education and awareness, training, capacity building and socioeconomic development programmes, carried out during and after the Indo-US Primate Project, created a healthy environment for the conservation of gibbons in India. Ex-situ conservation practices like rescue and rehabilitation, translocation, conservation breeding programmes and community-based conservation have been the result of collaborations between the government and non-governmental organisations over the past two decades, thus raising new hope for the survival of these species. The recent declaration of protected areas will ensure the long-term survival of the gibbons and its habitats. We feel that all stakeholders should emphasise the development of workable plans for the conservation of gibbons after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

hoolock gibbonthreatsconservationnortheast India
Type
Chapter
Information
Gibbon Conservation in the Anthropocene , pp. 147 - 166
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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