Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

Hoolangapar Gibbon Sanctuary

State : Assam Area : 21 sq. km Altitude: 100 - 120 m Vegetation : Semi Evergreen

The Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary is an isolated forest track near the Assam-Nagaland border set amidst the tea gardens and small villages. Initially, the forest used to extend to the foothills of the Patkai range. Astonishingly this small ( 21 sq. km) sanctuary is the home to seven types of apes – western hoolock gibbon, Bengal slow loris, stump-tailed macaque, northern pig-tailed macaque, eastern Assamese macaque, rhesus macaque, and capped langur. 

On 30 July 1997 the sanctuary was constituted under the civil district of Jorhat and named it the "Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary" after the only apes found in India: the hoolock gibbons (genus Hoolock). It is the only sanctuary in India named after a gibbon due to its distinction for containing the densest gibbon populations in Assam.

The upper canopy of the forest is dominated by the Hollong tree (Dipterocarpus macrocarpus), while the Nahar (Mesua ferrea) dominates the middle canopy & The lower canopy consists of evergreen shrubs and herbs. 

Hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock)
Like all apes, the Hoolock Gibbons are distinctive in the great development of the arms, which are much longer than the legs. They also do not possess any tail. The long arms are actually more than double the length of its legs and are a key balancing organ without the tail associated with arboreal monkeys.

Fauna : The sanctuary has a very rich biodiversity and is home to the only apes in India, the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), as well as the only nocturnal primate found in the northeast Indian states, the Bengal slow loris.Other primates include the stump-tailed macaque   northern pig-tailed macaque   eastern Assamese macaque, rhesus macaque  and capped langur. Also found at the sanctuary are Indian elephants,  jungle cats, wild boar , three types of civet, four types of squirrel, and several other types of mammal.