Planet of the apes.
Think
18
19
of Myanmar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)
Western hoolock gibbons swing on trees at the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
Red List of Threatened Species, which categorises the primate as endangered, estimates that only 2,600 western
When I finally reach the sanctuary,
hoolock gibbons are left in India, of
I am told that the only lodging option,
which about 2,000 are in Assam.
the forest house, has been booked.
In this remote part of India, primates, elephants, squirrels and geckos survive train tracks, lost mates and deforestation by
Prathap Nair
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
A
The officials are polite, but there is
arrived at the sanctuary that evening,
no way around the fact that a training
having hired an SUV (a Scorpio) and a
programme on the conservation of
n inexplicable ‘kook, kook’
driver for the 300 km journey from Ziro
western hoolock gibbons is underway;
rips through the silence
in Arunachal Pradesh to Mariani, a small
20 forest guards from all over the region
of the night. I am at forest
Assamese town near the forest reserve.
are stationed in the only two rooms
guard Ananto Bohrah’s
We drove through unpaved mud roads
available for guests.
house, one of the ten that make up
on dried river beds. Where there were
At the urging of his friends, a
a small village in the periphery of
no roads, we (along with the SUV) were
slightly inebriated Bohrah agrees to
Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, upper
ferried across the Brahmaputra river,
host us in his house. The 45-year-old
Assam. I am here to see the western
the lifeline of the people of Assam. At
guard seems eager to please, and I don’t
hoolock gibbon, a graceful and long-
Mariani, we resumed our road trip, this
register any sinister motive behind his
limbed arboreal ape that’s native to
time through dirt paths across tea estates
offer. After all, he lives with his family.
Northeast India, Bangladesh and parts
that were twinkling with fireflies under
That’s how I find myself in his house
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
From left: Kevin Schafer / Corbis; Sandeep Menon
My travel companion and I had
PRIMAL urges in ASSAM
the darkening summer sky.
that has bamboo walls coated with rust-coloured mud to ward
house guest. I’d later learn that
sanctuary takes its name, rise
he was referring to the rare and
above the forest canopy. And
exotic Tokay gecko, found in
there, on one such tree, I spot a
area. The project spearheaded
agricultural fields and human
stump-tailed macaque, Assamese
northeast India. This spotted
slender jet black, long-limbed
the primate conservation efforts
settlements. “The consequence
macaque, rhesus macaque,
giant lizard can fetch millions
gibbon. He hangs from his arms
in India, and its findings also led
of habitat loss (primarily
northern pig-tailed macaque,
in the black market animal trade
tentatively. After having spotted
to the government’s decision to
due to deforestation) is the
capped langur, and the western
because of the (false) belief that
us inching closer to the tree, he
upgrade the region to a sanctuary
fragmentation of the gibbon
hoolock gibbon . Bohrah, who
it can cure AIDS.
swings from branch to branch
in 1997. The reserve was renamed
habitats,” writes Sharma, who
turns out to be an excellent
in a dance-like movement
Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
studies community, behavioural
spotter with a keen ear for animal
At night, after power is
off insects, a common practice
restored in that remote part
called brachiation. A tuft of
Today, this semi-evergreen forest
ecology and conservation biology
calls, helps me identify some
in this region. My companion
of Assam, I scan Bohrah’s bare
white hair around his eyebrows
pocket, south of the Brahmaputra
of the primates in the fragmented
of these primates. I follow him
and I sit in Bohrah’s kerosene-
bamboo walls and ceiling inch
confirms that he is a male
river system, has an area of 21
landscape of the Brahmaputra
down a pathway colonised by
lamp-lit living room; his wife,
by inch, but fail to spot the
western hoolock gibbon. A few
square km and is home to 106
valley.
wild forest plants crowned with
mother and sister squat on the
mysterious gecko.
trees ahead, a female, her coat a
western hoolock gibbons in 26
tanned copper unlike the male’s
groups and five solitary males (as
second-most important threat
In this wild and remote part of
floor pounding betel nuts, all
Fortunately, the western
According to Sharma, the
hoolock gibbon—not to be
black, looks down at us. She, too,
per the sanctuary’s 2009 census).
comes from tribals who depend
India, the forest guard in his
in a blend of Assamese and
confused with the eastern
has a white eyebrow band.
In the 2004 census, there were
on the forest for subsistence. A
khaki garb—and armed with a
rudimentary Hindi. A full moon
hoolock gibbon that’s found in
only 64 western hoolock gibbons
penchant for hunting among
gun—is a symbol of authority.
lights up the front yard where
Arunachal Pradesh—is not as
some of the smallest apes in the
in 17 groups.
the tribes severely affects the
We see Malayan giant squirrels
palm, areca nut and bamboo
elusive. Next morning, around
world and weigh only 7 kg with
gibbon population. Though they
feasting on fruit, sitting on
trees keep watch like silent
seven o’clock, when the sun’s
little variation between males and
effort given the odds. On its
are hunted for meat, in some
tree branches, their furry tails
sentinels.
rays are slowly warming the tea
females. They can be 20 times
website, the IUCN writes that
places the apes are also hunted
hanging like black brushes.
plantations on the periphery
smaller than a great ape like a
there is reason to believe the
for medicinal purposes. Women
“You know what that is?” asks
of the sanctuary in Bohrah’s
gorilla, which can weigh up to
species has declined by at least
in Ngopa village adjacent to the
sun slowly becomes harsher,
Bohrah. To my untrained ear,
village, we drive along mud-
140 kg.
50 percent over the past 40
Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary
raising the humidity level in the
it sounds like a lizard. I’m not
roads that lead to the thickets. In
years (approximately three
in Mizoram, for instance, wear
air a notch higher, we bump into
too far off the mark. “We call
less than 30 minutes, the forest
one, but two gibbons. This is
generations). In an email
gibbon bones on their feet.
Bohrah’s colleague who is on his
it gecko in the local language.
guard shushes me. Gesticulating
one of the rare parts of India
interview, Dr Narayan Sharma, a
They believe the bone of the
morning patrol. “Show them the
People hunt it and sell it for
with his hands, he instructs my
where these apes can be found
research associate with wildlife
gibbon can cure gout and other
pig-tailed macaques,” he says,
lakhs of rupees,” he tells me.
companion and me to get out of
‘in abundance’. The credit for
NGO Nature Conservation
inflammatory problems.
after spotting a pack a few feet
(The lizard, also called gecko
the SUV and walk into the forest.
the conservation programme
Foundation, blames the
in English, is a nocturnal and
We follow him noisily as he
goes to a joint Indo-US Primate
decimation of gibbons in India’s
highest primate diversity in the
vocal reptile.) “It has been living
clears shrubs and bushes from
Project, launched in 1994, which
northeast states on large-scale
country and is home to as many
in my house for the past few
our path, our shoes crunching
was pivotal in identifying the
habitat loss caused by shifting
as 11 of a total of 22 species.
months,” Bohrah adds, implying
the bed of leaves and twigs.
primate diversity in the area,
cultivation and the clearance of
The Hoollongapar Gibbon
Hollong trees, the state
which, at the time, was called
lowland tropical rainforests for
Sanctuary has seven primate
tree of Assam from which the
Hoollongapar Reserve Forest
the expansion of tea gardens,
species including the slow loris,
that he has no intention of trading this particular noisy
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
Western hoolock gibbons are
It is a privilege to see not
This is a commendable
India’s northeast has the
From left: A giant Malayan squirrel atop a tree; a capped langur, one of the seven primates that inhabit the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
soft blue flowers on each side.
the while attempting to converse
Kook, kook. I hear it again.
Photographs: Kevin Schafer / Corbis
20
From left: A male hoolock gibbon. The black coat distinguishes the male from the female; the arboreal primate jumps between trees at the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam
Primal urges in Assam
Prathap Nair; Kevin Schafer / Corbis
Primal urges in Assam
Think
As the soft, early morning
away. We take a slight diversion
The Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary was home to 106 western hoolock gibbons at the last count in 2009
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
21
Primal urges in Assam
Think
Primal urges in Assam
stump-tailed macaque from her pack: “She saw two long ‘poles’ lying parallel to each other on a raised platform all along the clearing as far as her eyes could see. Their forest was neatly sliced into two unequal parts. She would never forget the day when a moving beast whizzed past her with a deafening sound, leaving a trail of black smoke hovering over the forest.” As we walk further down the track, we run into the training party of forest guards who are recording the sightings of primates. The week-long residential training, conducted by the Assam-based
22
environmental NGO Aaranyak
with an adult male and female
squat on the tracks, thirsty and
is titled ‘Training of Forest
staying together for their whole
perspiring in the humid and
Guards for the Conservation of
lives. They do not mate within
clammy weather. The playful
these tracks is also lethal:
Hoolock Gibbon in Assam’. The
families. The adolescent male on
juvenile is still swinging from
sanctuary. Trains screeching and
They are blamed for habitat
20 participants, forest guards
the tree is lovelorn, insists Jeevan.
branch to branch like an acrobat.
tails look like they belong to a
huffing in the heart of forest land
fragmentation, and preventing
from various regions in Assam,
The animal in question, however,
He occasionally looks down
pig’s body, but arching backward.
are part of Assam’s landscape,
native wild animals like gibbons
are being trained on topics with
doesn’t look too heartbroken
at the people below who are
A baby in the pack looks down
and a major cause for mortality
and stump-tailed macaques from
special reference to gibbon
and is bearing the enforced
pointing instruments (cameras)
at us before sprinting further up
and injury to wild animals. In
accessing their abodes easily. I
conservation. These include
separation with fortitude. He is
that go ‘click’, ‘click’ at him.
the tree.
November 2013, a herd of 40
am told that this particular train
population estimation, habitat
happily selecting and munching
Oblivious to the threat his species
elephants was killed in Assam
track has been running through
characteristics and restoration,
on flower buds and shoots from a
faces, his ‘hooku hooku’ fills the
the sanctuary since 1881, and
habitat monitoring, rescue
tree. (A western hoolock gibbon’s
muggy air of the forest canopy. As
was constructed during the Raj to
and rehabilitation, the use of
diet consists primarily of berries,
I retrace my steps back to the SUV,
transport coal, tea and oil from
global positioning systems
leaves, flowers and buds.)
I hope he finds his way back to
Assam to the rest of the country.
(GPS), wildlife laws and their
The canopy gap—the result of
application and the role of local
go as planned, he will be united
deforestation to lay the track—
communities in conservation.
with his bride. To enable arboreal
into a tertiary path and walk
since we left the village, and we
deeper into the forest to see the
have moseyed towards a train
pack of pig-tailed macaques. True
track that slices through the
to their moniker, their stubby
It’s now noon, five hours
when a train mowed them down. The indirect impact of
exists to this day, 134 years later.
the forest department wants to
exclusively arboreal and seldom
with them as they mark the GPS
plant tall bamboos on either side
descend to the ground, and need
coordinates of every primate that
of the tracks. Officials are hoping
continuous forest cover to move
they spot. I see another juvenile
that the slender but soaring
freely. Even a small gap in the
male hoolock gibbon, swinging
bamboos will form canopy
canopy hinders their movement.
on a tree, from branch to slender
bridges for gibbons, enabling
But because of train tracks and
branch. “This little fellow is
them to seamlessly roam on
deforestation, most of the gibbon
lonely because his prospective
both sides of the railway track.
populations in the northeast are
bride is on the other side of
Their optimism is buoyed by
trapped in small forest fragments
the track. And he cannot cross
the fact that gibbons have been
where they are vulnerable to
over the tracks because he is
observed using such bamboo
local extinction.
arboreal,” says Jeevan Bohra, an
canopy bridges by researchers
associate with Aaranyak who is
in Bherjan-Borajan-Padumoni
post on the Nature Conservation
accompanying the forest guards
Wildlife Sanctuary in the
Foundation India blog, Sharma
on the training programme.
Tinsukia district of Assam.
From top: Prathap Nair; Sandeep Menon
In a particularly melancholic
writes about how a railway track permanently estranged a female / 2015
Gibbons follow a strictly monogamous social structure
his mate.
F L
Top: The flat tea plantations on the plains inside the sanctuary; Bottom: A pig-tailed macaque. The primate gets its name from its stubby tail that looks like it belongs to a pig’s body
animals to cross to the other side,
with the guards, and keep pace
Gibbons are almost
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
I strike up a conversation
But if conservation efforts
23
From top: Prathap Nair; Kevin Schafer / Corbis
Top: The train line that slices through the sanctuary Bottom: A female western hoolock gibbon with its characteristic tanned-copper coat
While the forest guards continue with their census, I f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
18
19
of Myanmar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)
Western hoolock gibbons swing on trees at the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
Red List of Threatened Species, which categorises the primate as endangered, estimates that only 2,600 western
When I finally reach the sanctuary,
hoolock gibbons are left in India, of
I am told that the only lodging option,
which about 2,000 are in Assam.
the forest house, has been booked.
In this remote part of India, primates, elephants, squirrels and geckos survive train tracks, lost mates and deforestation by
Prathap Nair
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
A
The officials are polite, but there is
arrived at the sanctuary that evening,
no way around the fact that a training
having hired an SUV (a Scorpio) and a
programme on the conservation of
n inexplicable ‘kook, kook’
driver for the 300 km journey from Ziro
western hoolock gibbons is underway;
rips through the silence
in Arunachal Pradesh to Mariani, a small
20 forest guards from all over the region
of the night. I am at forest
Assamese town near the forest reserve.
are stationed in the only two rooms
guard Ananto Bohrah’s
We drove through unpaved mud roads
available for guests.
house, one of the ten that make up
on dried river beds. Where there were
At the urging of his friends, a
a small village in the periphery of
no roads, we (along with the SUV) were
slightly inebriated Bohrah agrees to
Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, upper
ferried across the Brahmaputra river,
host us in his house. The 45-year-old
Assam. I am here to see the western
the lifeline of the people of Assam. At
guard seems eager to please, and I don’t
hoolock gibbon, a graceful and long-
Mariani, we resumed our road trip, this
register any sinister motive behind his
limbed arboreal ape that’s native to
time through dirt paths across tea estates
offer. After all, he lives with his family.
Northeast India, Bangladesh and parts
that were twinkling with fireflies under
That’s how I find myself in his house
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
From left: Kevin Schafer / Corbis; Sandeep Menon
My travel companion and I had
PRIMAL urges in ASSAM
the darkening summer sky.
that has bamboo walls coated with rust-coloured mud to ward
house guest. I’d later learn that
sanctuary takes its name, rise
he was referring to the rare and
above the forest canopy. And
exotic Tokay gecko, found in
there, on one such tree, I spot a
area. The project spearheaded
agricultural fields and human
stump-tailed macaque, Assamese
northeast India. This spotted
slender jet black, long-limbed
the primate conservation efforts
settlements. “The consequence
macaque, rhesus macaque,
giant lizard can fetch millions
gibbon. He hangs from his arms
in India, and its findings also led
of habitat loss (primarily
northern pig-tailed macaque,
in the black market animal trade
tentatively. After having spotted
to the government’s decision to
due to deforestation) is the
capped langur, and the western
because of the (false) belief that
us inching closer to the tree, he
upgrade the region to a sanctuary
fragmentation of the gibbon
hoolock gibbon . Bohrah, who
it can cure AIDS.
swings from branch to branch
in 1997. The reserve was renamed
habitats,” writes Sharma, who
turns out to be an excellent
in a dance-like movement
Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
studies community, behavioural
spotter with a keen ear for animal
At night, after power is
off insects, a common practice
restored in that remote part
called brachiation. A tuft of
Today, this semi-evergreen forest
ecology and conservation biology
calls, helps me identify some
in this region. My companion
of Assam, I scan Bohrah’s bare
white hair around his eyebrows
pocket, south of the Brahmaputra
of the primates in the fragmented
of these primates. I follow him
and I sit in Bohrah’s kerosene-
bamboo walls and ceiling inch
confirms that he is a male
river system, has an area of 21
landscape of the Brahmaputra
down a pathway colonised by
lamp-lit living room; his wife,
by inch, but fail to spot the
western hoolock gibbon. A few
square km and is home to 106
valley.
wild forest plants crowned with
mother and sister squat on the
mysterious gecko.
trees ahead, a female, her coat a
western hoolock gibbons in 26
tanned copper unlike the male’s
groups and five solitary males (as
second-most important threat
In this wild and remote part of
floor pounding betel nuts, all
Fortunately, the western
According to Sharma, the
hoolock gibbon—not to be
black, looks down at us. She, too,
per the sanctuary’s 2009 census).
comes from tribals who depend
India, the forest guard in his
in a blend of Assamese and
confused with the eastern
has a white eyebrow band.
In the 2004 census, there were
on the forest for subsistence. A
khaki garb—and armed with a
rudimentary Hindi. A full moon
hoolock gibbon that’s found in
only 64 western hoolock gibbons
penchant for hunting among
gun—is a symbol of authority.
lights up the front yard where
Arunachal Pradesh—is not as
some of the smallest apes in the
in 17 groups.
the tribes severely affects the
We see Malayan giant squirrels
palm, areca nut and bamboo
elusive. Next morning, around
world and weigh only 7 kg with
gibbon population. Though they
feasting on fruit, sitting on
trees keep watch like silent
seven o’clock, when the sun’s
little variation between males and
effort given the odds. On its
are hunted for meat, in some
tree branches, their furry tails
sentinels.
rays are slowly warming the tea
females. They can be 20 times
website, the IUCN writes that
places the apes are also hunted
hanging like black brushes.
plantations on the periphery
smaller than a great ape like a
there is reason to believe the
for medicinal purposes. Women
“You know what that is?” asks
of the sanctuary in Bohrah’s
gorilla, which can weigh up to
species has declined by at least
in Ngopa village adjacent to the
sun slowly becomes harsher,
Bohrah. To my untrained ear,
village, we drive along mud-
140 kg.
50 percent over the past 40
Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary
raising the humidity level in the
it sounds like a lizard. I’m not
roads that lead to the thickets. In
years (approximately three
in Mizoram, for instance, wear
air a notch higher, we bump into
too far off the mark. “We call
less than 30 minutes, the forest
one, but two gibbons. This is
generations). In an email
gibbon bones on their feet.
Bohrah’s colleague who is on his
it gecko in the local language.
guard shushes me. Gesticulating
one of the rare parts of India
interview, Dr Narayan Sharma, a
They believe the bone of the
morning patrol. “Show them the
People hunt it and sell it for
with his hands, he instructs my
where these apes can be found
research associate with wildlife
gibbon can cure gout and other
pig-tailed macaques,” he says,
lakhs of rupees,” he tells me.
companion and me to get out of
‘in abundance’. The credit for
NGO Nature Conservation
inflammatory problems.
after spotting a pack a few feet
(The lizard, also called gecko
the SUV and walk into the forest.
the conservation programme
Foundation, blames the
in English, is a nocturnal and
We follow him noisily as he
goes to a joint Indo-US Primate
decimation of gibbons in India’s
highest primate diversity in the
vocal reptile.) “It has been living
clears shrubs and bushes from
Project, launched in 1994, which
northeast states on large-scale
country and is home to as many
in my house for the past few
our path, our shoes crunching
was pivotal in identifying the
habitat loss caused by shifting
as 11 of a total of 22 species.
months,” Bohrah adds, implying
the bed of leaves and twigs.
primate diversity in the area,
cultivation and the clearance of
The Hoollongapar Gibbon
Hollong trees, the state
which, at the time, was called
lowland tropical rainforests for
Sanctuary has seven primate
tree of Assam from which the
Hoollongapar Reserve Forest
the expansion of tea gardens,
species including the slow loris,
that he has no intention of trading this particular noisy
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
Western hoolock gibbons are
It is a privilege to see not
This is a commendable
India’s northeast has the
From left: A giant Malayan squirrel atop a tree; a capped langur, one of the seven primates that inhabit the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
soft blue flowers on each side.
the while attempting to converse
Kook, kook. I hear it again.
Photographs: Kevin Schafer / Corbis
20
From left: A male hoolock gibbon. The black coat distinguishes the male from the female; the arboreal primate jumps between trees at the Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam
Primal urges in Assam
Prathap Nair; Kevin Schafer / Corbis
Primal urges in Assam
Think
As the soft, early morning
away. We take a slight diversion
The Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary was home to 106 western hoolock gibbons at the last count in 2009
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
21
Primal urges in Assam
Think
Primal urges in Assam
stump-tailed macaque from her pack: “She saw two long ‘poles’ lying parallel to each other on a raised platform all along the clearing as far as her eyes could see. Their forest was neatly sliced into two unequal parts. She would never forget the day when a moving beast whizzed past her with a deafening sound, leaving a trail of black smoke hovering over the forest.” As we walk further down the track, we run into the training party of forest guards who are recording the sightings of primates. The week-long residential training, conducted by the Assam-based
22
environmental NGO Aaranyak
with an adult male and female
squat on the tracks, thirsty and
is titled ‘Training of Forest
staying together for their whole
perspiring in the humid and
Guards for the Conservation of
lives. They do not mate within
clammy weather. The playful
these tracks is also lethal:
Hoolock Gibbon in Assam’. The
families. The adolescent male on
juvenile is still swinging from
sanctuary. Trains screeching and
They are blamed for habitat
20 participants, forest guards
the tree is lovelorn, insists Jeevan.
branch to branch like an acrobat.
tails look like they belong to a
huffing in the heart of forest land
fragmentation, and preventing
from various regions in Assam,
The animal in question, however,
He occasionally looks down
pig’s body, but arching backward.
are part of Assam’s landscape,
native wild animals like gibbons
are being trained on topics with
doesn’t look too heartbroken
at the people below who are
A baby in the pack looks down
and a major cause for mortality
and stump-tailed macaques from
special reference to gibbon
and is bearing the enforced
pointing instruments (cameras)
at us before sprinting further up
and injury to wild animals. In
accessing their abodes easily. I
conservation. These include
separation with fortitude. He is
that go ‘click’, ‘click’ at him.
the tree.
November 2013, a herd of 40
am told that this particular train
population estimation, habitat
happily selecting and munching
Oblivious to the threat his species
elephants was killed in Assam
track has been running through
characteristics and restoration,
on flower buds and shoots from a
faces, his ‘hooku hooku’ fills the
the sanctuary since 1881, and
habitat monitoring, rescue
tree. (A western hoolock gibbon’s
muggy air of the forest canopy. As
was constructed during the Raj to
and rehabilitation, the use of
diet consists primarily of berries,
I retrace my steps back to the SUV,
transport coal, tea and oil from
global positioning systems
leaves, flowers and buds.)
I hope he finds his way back to
Assam to the rest of the country.
(GPS), wildlife laws and their
The canopy gap—the result of
application and the role of local
go as planned, he will be united
deforestation to lay the track—
communities in conservation.
with his bride. To enable arboreal
into a tertiary path and walk
since we left the village, and we
deeper into the forest to see the
have moseyed towards a train
pack of pig-tailed macaques. True
track that slices through the
to their moniker, their stubby
It’s now noon, five hours
when a train mowed them down. The indirect impact of
exists to this day, 134 years later.
the forest department wants to
exclusively arboreal and seldom
with them as they mark the GPS
plant tall bamboos on either side
descend to the ground, and need
coordinates of every primate that
of the tracks. Officials are hoping
continuous forest cover to move
they spot. I see another juvenile
that the slender but soaring
freely. Even a small gap in the
male hoolock gibbon, swinging
bamboos will form canopy
canopy hinders their movement.
on a tree, from branch to slender
bridges for gibbons, enabling
But because of train tracks and
branch. “This little fellow is
them to seamlessly roam on
deforestation, most of the gibbon
lonely because his prospective
both sides of the railway track.
populations in the northeast are
bride is on the other side of
Their optimism is buoyed by
trapped in small forest fragments
the track. And he cannot cross
the fact that gibbons have been
where they are vulnerable to
over the tracks because he is
observed using such bamboo
local extinction.
arboreal,” says Jeevan Bohra, an
canopy bridges by researchers
associate with Aaranyak who is
in Bherjan-Borajan-Padumoni
post on the Nature Conservation
accompanying the forest guards
Wildlife Sanctuary in the
Foundation India blog, Sharma
on the training programme.
Tinsukia district of Assam.
From top: Prathap Nair; Sandeep Menon
In a particularly melancholic
writes about how a railway track permanently estranged a female / 2015
Gibbons follow a strictly monogamous social structure
his mate.
F L
Top: The flat tea plantations on the plains inside the sanctuary; Bottom: A pig-tailed macaque. The primate gets its name from its stubby tail that looks like it belongs to a pig’s body
animals to cross to the other side,
with the guards, and keep pace
Gibbons are almost
f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
I strike up a conversation
But if conservation efforts
23
From top: Prathap Nair; Kevin Schafer / Corbis
Top: The train line that slices through the sanctuary Bottom: A female western hoolock gibbon with its characteristic tanned-copper coat
While the forest guards continue with their census, I f o r b e s l i f e i n d i a j u ly-au g u s t
/ 2015
