Western Hoolock Gibbon

Taxobox
name = Western Hoolock Gibbon
status = EN
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = IUCN2007 | assessors = Eudey, A. & Members of the Primate Specialist Group | year = 2000 | title = Bunopithecus hoolock "ssp." hoolock | id = 39876 | downloaded = 2008-03-11]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
familia = Hylobatidae
genus = "Hoolock"
species = "H. hoolock"
binomial = "Hoolock hoolock"
binomial_authority = (Harlan, 1834)The Western Hoolock Gibbon ("Hoolock hoolock") is a primate from the Hylobatidae (gibbon) family. The species is found in Assam, Bangladesh and in Myanmar west of the Chindwin River. [cite journal | author=Groves, C. P. | year= 1967 | title = Geographic variation in the hoolock or white-browed gibbon ("Hylobates hoolock harlan" 1834). | journal = Folia Primatologica | volume=7 | pages=276–283]

Classification

Mootnick and Groves [cite journal | author = Mootnick, A. R. and C. P. Groves | year = 2005 | title=A new generic name for the hoolock gibbon (Hylobatidae) | journal = Int. J. Primatol | volume = 26 | pages = 971–976 | doi=10.1007/s10764-005-5332-4] stated that the name "Bunopithecus" was not valid, and placed it in a new genus, "Hoolock". This genus was argued to contain two distinct species which were previously thought to be subspecies: "Hoolock hoolock" and "Hoolock leuconedys". [cite journal | author = Mootnick, A. R. | year = 2006 | title = Gibbon (Hylobatidae) species identification recommended for rescue or breeding centers | journal = Primate Conserv | volume = 21 | pages = 103–138 | doi = 10.1896/0898-6207.21.1.103]

Habitat

In India and Bangladesh it is found where there is contiguous canopy, broad-leaved, wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. The species is an important seed disperser; its diet includes mostly ripe fruits, with some flowers, leaves and shoots.

Conservation

There are numerous threats to Western hoolock gibbons in the wild, and are now entirely dependent on human action for their survival. Threats include habitat encroachment by humans, forest clearance for tea cultivation, the practice of "jhuming" (slash-and-burn cultivation), hunting for food and “medicine”, capture for trade, and forest degradation.

Over the last 30-40 years, western hoolock gibbon numbers are estimated to have dropped from more than 100,000 (Assam alone was estimated to have around 80,000 in the early 1970s) to less than 5,000 individuals (a decline of more than 90%). [cite web | title = Western Hoolock Gibbon, "Hoolock hoolock" | url = http://www.primate-sg.org/hoolock07.htm | accessed = 2008-03-10]

References