HOOLOCK GIBBONS

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Hollock Gibbon Threatened: Body Parts Smuggled to Burma-China

Hrishikesh Saikia

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

 

GUWAHATI, Sept 2, 2005 - Poaching of the Hollock Gibbon and smuggling of its

body parts to South East Asian countries, especially Burma and China, have

emerged as a major threat to this endangered species in the North-east of India.

 

It may be mentioned that the Hollock Gibbon is the only ape found in India,

especially the north-eastern States. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh constitute its

prime habitat. Assam has the largest population of the Hollock Gibbon accounting

for 5,000 of the species.

 

" Killing of Hollock Gibbons and smuggling its body parts have been going on for

years. And among the main factors behind the thriving illegal trade is the big

demand for gibbon body parts in Burma and China, " Soumyadeep Datta, director of

Nature's Beckon, a leading environmental NGO of the North-east, told this

correspondent today.

 

Datta said that certain body parts of the Hollock Gibbon are believed to cure

human disorders like infertility in women, and are in great demand in South East

Asian countries, particularly Burma and China. " This has been among the main

reason behind the large-scale smuggling of gibbon body parts from the

North-east, especially Assam, " Datta said.

 

Datta added that it was not just the gibbon that was under threat from poaching.

" Many other animals are being killed and smuggled out the region for years, " he

said.

 

 

It is worth mentioning that two poachers from China and Burma were arrested in

Assam in 2003 and among the things recovered from the duo were 21 seraw (wild

goat) horns, three otter skins and a number of dry limbs of different animals.

 

Datta said that his NGO also recovered a limbless body of a gibbon at the Joypur

(now Dehing-Patkai wildlife sanctuary) rain forests in upper Assam in 2003,

which was also widely reported by the media.

 

" It is mostly the limbs and not the torso of the gibbon that is smuggled, " Datta

said.

 

 

Terming the smuggling as a serious threat to the existence of the Hollock

Gibbon, Datta said that Naure's Beckon was in constant touch with international

animal welfare groups to check the killing of gibbons.

 

" We are trying to build an international campaign against the killing and

smuggling of gibbons. But mere policing is not going to yield the desired

results, for it is equally important to rid the people of their superstitious

beliefs like animal body parts having wondrous cures, " Datta said.

 

The Joypur rain forests are the biggest stretch of rain forests in Assam. It is

also home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Of late dwindling rain forests

have emerged as a major concern in the State, with the Joypur forests possibly

remaining the last vestiges of rain forests in the State.