An endangered hoolock gibbon died due to electrocution on an electrified railway track passing through the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, highlighting growing infrastructure-related threats to wildlife.

What happened?

• An adult male hoolock gibbon was electrocuted on the railway line inside the sanctuary.
• The incident occurred after railway electrification, undertaken without adequate wildlife mitigation measures.
• The 1.65 kilometre broad-gauge railway line cuts the sanctuary into two unequal parts, fragmenting habitat.

Why is this a serious concern?

• Hoolock gibbon is:
  • India’s only ape species.
  • Exclusively arboreal, dependent on continuous tree canopy.
  • Listed under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, granting it the highest legal protection.
• Arboreal animals rarely descend to the ground; canopy gaps force them into high-risk zones, increasing mortality from electrocution and collisions.
• The sanctuary has become a “forest island”, losing connectivity with surrounding forests.
• Genetic isolation of gibbon groups has reduced genetic diversity, threatening long-term survival.

Scientific and conservation inputs

• The sanctuary (area: 20.98 square kilometres) hosts seven primate species, the highest in Assam.
• Around 125 hoolock gibbons in 26 groups live here.
• The Wildlife Institute of India recommended:
  • Construction of artificial canopy bridges at seven locations.
  • Warning that track doubling would make such measures ineffective.
• Earlier canopy bridges failed due to poor design, unsuitable for gibbons’ specialised brachiation movement.

What are experts demanding?

• Conservationists and primatologists argue that:
  • The short railway stretch can be rerouted outside the sanctuary.
  • Rerouting is the most permanent and effective solution, compared to partial mitigation.
• Electrification without safeguards has multiplied risk, not just for gibbons but for all wildlife.

One-line wrap

The electrocution of a hoolock gibbon underscores how linear infrastructure, when poorly planned, can push critically protected species closer to local extinction.

Exam Hook – 

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. The hoolock gibbon is India’s only ape species and is protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
2. Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest diversity of primate species in Assam.
3. Artificial canopy bridges have completely resolved the problem of habitat fragmentation in Hollongapar.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct answer: (a)

Source