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Recently, scientists suggested rerouting the railway track running through the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.

Facts About:

The Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary was renamed on 25 May 2004, formerly known as the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary or Hollongapar Reserve Forest.

It is an isolated protected area of evergreen forest located in the Jorhat district of Assam.

Vegetation: The upper canopy of the forest is dominated by the Hollong tree, while the Nahar dominates the middle canopy. The lower canopy consists of evergreen shrubs and herbs.

Fauna:

• The sanctuary has a rich biodiversity and is home to the only apes in India, the western Hoolock, as well as the only nocturnal primate found in the northeast Indian states, the Bengal slow loris.
• Also it is home to Stump-tailed macaque, northern pig-tailed macaque, eastern Assamese macaque, rhesus macaque, and capped langur etc

Key facts about Hoolock Gibbon

It is the only ape found in India.

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

Gibbons, the smallest and fastest of all apes, live in tropical and subtropical forests in the southeastern part of Asia.

The Hoolock gibbon, unique to India’s northeast, is one of 20 species of gibbons on Earth.

It is categorised into Western Hoolock Gibbon and Eastern Hoolock Gibbon.

Like all apes, they are extremely intelligent, with distinct personalities and strong family bonds.

Western Hoolock Gibbon

• It has a much wider range, as it is found in all the states of the northeast, restricted between the south of the Brahmaputra River and east of the Dibang River.
• It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Eastern Hoolock gibbon

• It inhabits specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and southern China and northeast Myanmar.
• It is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red list.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/reroute-railway-track-running-through-assam-gibbon-sanctuary-suggest-scientists/article67247555.ece