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Ape returns to the wild - with lady love
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/ape-returns-to-the-wild-with-lady-love-with-images_10057760.html

June 8th, 2008 - 12:53 pm ICT by IANS

By Sanjeeb Baruah
Guwahati, June 8 (IANS) A male hoolock gibbon wandered from the wild into a
national park in Assam in search of a mate - and has now returned with her
to his natural habitat. The first recorded case of a wild gibbon falling in
love with a captive mate at the Kaziranga reserve has delighted wildlife
experts.

Conservationists bade farewell in late May to the lone female gibbon they
hand-raised at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation
(CWRC) next to the Panbari forest in Kaziranga.

Now Siloni, who is the first gibbon to be rehabilitated in India, has joined
her partner in the wild to start a family.

Hoolock gibbons are the species of the ape family found in India and are
critically endangered, with only an estimated 4,500-5,000 left in the
forests of northeast India where they live. Gibbons are protected by
Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the highest measure for
protection of wildlife in the country.

"Siloni first met her partner, a good-looking male gibbon, after he sneaked
into the centre to meet her," says wildlife veterinarian Anjan Talukdar, who
had been her surrogate parent.

The romance started some four months ago.

"He had been visiting the centre almost daily and we didn't mind it. We knew
this courtship (with the wild mate) would help some day when we finally
release her," says Talukdar.

Gibbons are careful in choosing partners. They are monogamous. Experts say
in some cases they stay single after the death of a partner.

A gibbon family usually consists of two adults and one or two infants and an
average group has two such families.

"This was a special union since one of them was in captivity. Gibbons are
very picky about their partner, even when they are in the wild," says Prabal
Sarkar, a primatologist.

Siloni was less then a year old when she was rescued in February 2003 from
Silonijan in Assam's Golaghat district. Since then, she had been at the
centre, some 300 km from Guwahati.

Her new home is a project to help distressed animals of the region. It was
initiated by the NGOs the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in partnership with the state's
forest department.

"That fellow (the male gibbon) must have been waiting for a female for a
long time," says Jose Thanni of WTI.

"Their first touches through the mesh and meals together must have been a
Tarzan-like experience for the male.

"But they are free at last," said Thanni.

Gibbons, one of the smaller apes, have many distinct characteristics, which
separate them from other apes such as chimpanzees and orangutans. They lack
ear lobes and are territorial. Also they do not build nests.

They attain maturity in 8 to 10 years. A pair produces an average of five to
six offspring in their reproductive life of 10 to 20 years.

"They mostly call out their distinctive hoots in the mornings. It serves to
mark their territories and attract mates too," said Sarkar. "They are
arboreal and canopy dwellers and move mostly by brachiation (using their
four long limbs almost equally), which is a special characteristic feature
of hoolock gibbons."

Their diet consists mainly of fruit, leaves and insects. Gibbons play an
important role in the ecosystem. They help in forest regeneration by
dispersing seeds of fruit trees, alert other animals of predators, and drop
fruit when moving from tree to tree, which become the food source for other
animals.

Gibbons are forest dependent species; hence their presence is an indicator
of the health of the forest. Habitat loss is a major threat to their
survival.

Some tribes in the northeast hunt gibbons for food, medicine, ornamentation,
skin and bone. They are also trapped to be kept as pets and for sports. All
these activities have threatened their existence, says Sarkar.

(Sanjeeb Baruah can be contacted at sanjeeb.b AT ians.in)