China event raises concern over India’s only ape

Source: The post is based on the article “China event raises concern over India’s only ape”  published in The Hindu on 17th July 2023

What is the News?

Global Gibbon Network (GGN) held its first meeting in China to discuss conservation of Hoolock Gibbon.

What is Hoolock Gibbon?

Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape found in India.

It is native to eastern Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Southwest China.

In India, they are confined to the seven states of northeast India with Brahmaputra as the distribution boundary. 

They form an arboreal species and prefer to live in canopies of the evergreen forests in northeast India. 

They traverse across the canopy using their very long forelimbs hanging and jumping from branch to branch. 

Along with this, they are famous for their loud holou calls (that inspires their name “Hoolock”) and duets which both male and female of a group indulge in. 

Threats: Hoolock gibbon faces threat primarily from the felling of trees for infrastructure Projects.

How many species of Hoolock Gibbon are there in India?

According to Zoologists, Northeast of India houses two species of the ape — the eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys) found in a specific region of Arunachal Pradesh and the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) distributed elsewhere in the Northeast.

But a study led by Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in 2021 proved through genetic analysis that there is only one species of ape in India.It debunked earlier research that the eastern hoolock gibbon was a separate species based on the colour of its coat. 

However, the Red List maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) categorizes the Western hoolock gibbon as Endangered and the Eastern hoolock gibbon as Vulnerable.