Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary[1][2] | |
---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Location | Jorhat, Assam, India |
Nearest city | Jorhat City |
Coordinates | 26°43′00″N 94°23′00″E / 26.716667°N 94.383333°E |
Area | 2,098.62 ha (8.1 sq mi) |
Established | 1997 |
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, formerly known as the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary or Hollongapar Reserved Forest (Assamese: হোলোঙাপাৰ গিবন অভয়াৰণ্য), is an isolated protected area of evergreen forest located in Assam, India. The sanctuary was officially constituted and renamed in 1997. Set aside initially in 1881, its forests used to extend to the foothills of the Patkai mountain range.
Since then, the forest has been fragmented and surrounded by
The upper
History
Hollongapar reserved forest as a potential wildlife sanctuary was identified in late 1980s during a primate survey.
Although the sanctuary is currently completely surrounded by tea gardens and a few small villages, it used to connect to a large forest tract that ran to the state of
Historically, sporadic evergreen trees covered the area along with Bojal bamboos (Pseudostachyum sp.). In 1924, artificial regeneration was introduced in an attempt to develop well-stocked, even-aged forest. These plantations along with the natural vegetation subsequently created a forest stocked with a rich variety of flora and fauna (biodiversity). During the 1900s, forest areas were added to the reserve, eventually totaling 2,098.62 ha (8.1 sq mi) by 1997.[5][6] However, the sanctuary remains fragmented into five distinct segments.[6]
On 30 July 1997, in notification no. FRS 37/97/31, the sanctuary was constituted under the civil district of Jorhat and named it the "Gibbon Sanctuary, Meleng" after the only
Surrounding region
The elephants' range of this small sanctuary extends to the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest, Dissoi Reserve Forest, and Tiru Hill Reserve Forest, which are used as dispersal areas through tea gardens (Elephas maximus). Three extensive tea gardens that belong to the estates of Dissoi, Kothalguri, and Hollonguri span the distance between the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary and the nearest forests in Assam-Nagaland border, the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest.[5][6]
The tea gardens include Katonibari, Murmurai, Chenijan, Koliapani, Meleng, Kakojan, Dihavelleoguri, Dihingapar, Kothalguri, Dissoi and Hoolonguri. Neighboring villages include Madhupur, Lakhipur, Rampur, Fesual A (the western part), Fesual B (the eastern part), Katonibari, Pukhurai, Velleoguri, Afolamukh, and Kaliagaon.[5]
Biota and habitat
The Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is classified as "Assam plains alluvial semi-evergreen forests" with some wet evergreen forest patches.[5] It receives 249 cm (98 in) of rainfall on average per year. Situated at an altitude between 100 and 120 m (330 and 390 ft), the topography gently slopes downward from southeast to northwest. The Bhogdoi River creates a waterlogged region dominated by semi-hydrophytic plants along the border of the sanctuary, helping to create three distinct habitat zones or micro-ecosystems in the park: the up-slope zone, the down-slope zone, and the flood-prone zone.[1]
Fauna
The sanctuary has a very rich biodiversity and is home to the only apes in India, the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock),[1][5] as well as the only nocturnal primate found in the northeast Indian states, the Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis).[1][7]
As of 2023, there are 125 individuals of Hoolock Gibbon in the sanctuary.[3]
Other primates include the
(Panthera tigris) is now extirpated.Flora
Most of the vegetation within Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is evergreen in character and is composed of several canopy layers.[5]
The upper canopy consists mostly of Dipterocarpus macrocarpus rising 12 to 30 m (39 to 98 ft) and having straight trunks. Other species found in the top canopy include sam (Artocarps chaplasha), amari (Amoora wallichi), sopas (Mcheliai spp.), bhelu (Tetramels mudiflora), udal (Sterculia villosa) and hingori (Castanopsis spp.).[5]
Nahor (
A variety of evergreen shrubs and herbs make up the lower canopy and ground layers. The most common of these are dolu bamboo (
Conservation
The isolation of the park by numerous tea gardens creates a geographic barrier for migrating animals.[5][6] The growing populations of tea garden workers also threatens the habitat since many people rely on the forest for firewood, traditional medicine and food.[1][5] Large quantities of leaves and grass are collected from the forests to feed cattle. During the rainy season, herbicides and pesticides from the tea gardens wash through the sanctuary.[1]
The tea gardens are also used by elephants as a migration route to Nagaland, making them vulnerable to frequent poaching. Railway lines further divide the park, stranding a single group of gibbons in the smaller fragment. Illegal logging and the encroachment by local people employed by the tea gardens degraded the habitat quality.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ghosh, Kumud (2007). "Birds of Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 47 (3): 35–40.
- ^ "Gibbon Sanctuary". protectedplanet.net. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ a b Anand, Ashvita (25 November 2023). "In Assam, railway line expansion and electrification threaten the hoolock gibbon, India's only ape". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ Choudhury, A. U. (1989). Primates of Assam: their distribution, habitat and status. Guwahati: Gauhati University.
- ^ ISSN 0972-088X. Archived from the originalon 21 July 2011.
- ^ .
- ^ Nandini, Rajamani; Kakati, Kashmira; Ved, Nimesh (2009). "Occurrence records of the Bengal Slow Loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) in northeastern India" (PDF). Asian Primates Journal. 1 (2): 12–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2012.
- .