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NGO threatens to take
Hoolock Gibbon issue to global fora
 By A Staff ReporterGUWAHATI, Oct 20 � The debate over the conservation of the State�s Hoolock Gibbons and their Upper Assam habitats has taken a new turn today. The NGO Nature�s Beckon, which has been leading the movement for the purpose, has threatened to take the issue afresh to the international fora. It has also dared the State Forest Department to institute an inquiry through a team comprising Supreme Court judges, internationally acclaimed wildlife experts from various countries and scribes of the State and other parts of the globe, to asses the status of the Upper Assam habitats of the ape. Hoolock is the only ape found in India. Nature�s Beckon director Soumyadeep Datta today told The Assam Tribune that they were sad to learn that the State Forest Department was waiting for the moment of the ape species� becoming �critically endangered� to initiate measures for its conservation. He was referring to the comment of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, the Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and the Joint Secretary of the Department made at the October 8 press conference at the State Zoo. There is no contiguous large patch of rainforest in the State, except Joypur, Upper Dihing and Dirak in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, to provide the ideal habitat to the ape. The area of these three rainforests together is around 800 square kilometres. Hoolock Gibbon needs large, contiguous patch of rain forest as its suitable habitat, Datta said. The Red Data Book of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), published by the Government of India in 1994, said ( in its Part I: Vertebrata) : �Deforestation resulting in the discontinuity of the forests is the main cause of the decline in population of the Hoolock Gibbons in India�. And the species is found only in the NE part of the country, mostly in Assam, Datta said. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (As amended up to 1991), has enlisted the ape in its Schedule- I as the seriously threatened species, along with the Pygmy Hog, Golden Langur and some other species. The Red Data Book of the ZSI in its page 42 said in unambiguous term, �More and more areas where these animals (Hoolock Gibbon) are found in good numbers should be declared as conservation areas�, Datta said. Rebutting the claim of Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury, Joint Secretary, Forests, that as the ape species is not critically endangered, so its conservation is not a top priority, Datta said Dr Choudhury was contradicting his earlier assertions. In 1990, Dr Choudhury wrote in the American Journal of Primatology (20:37-41/1990) �In all the Study areas it has been found that Hoolock Gibbon habitats is under severe pressure from a variety of factors, � Conservation of large areas of natural forest for monoculture tree plantation by the Forest Department is also depriving the Gibbons of habitat in many areas�. Then Dr Choudhury concluded, � the main task, therefore, is to create large wildlife reserves in the remaining habitat if Hoolock Gibbons are to survive�(His article-Population dynamics of Hoolock Gibbons in Assam, India). The 19th congress of the International Primatological Society, held in Beijing, China, from august 4 to 9, 2002, demanded top priority to prevent fast extinction of the apes in the 21st century, and immediate steps to protect remaining Gibbon population and their habitats. The congress identified ten Gibbon species as the most endangered ones, Hoolock being one of them. The two-day symposium of the congress on Gibbons was organized by Dr Thomas Geissman, a renowned Gibbon expert and was attended by experts from all over the world. The IUCN has also listed Hoolock Gibbon as an endangered species. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has included the ape species in its Appendix- I, meant for the highly threatened species of flora and fauna. On the other hand, the Indo-US Primate Project Report has called for people�s participation in the conservation of the species, Datta said. |
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