Yongmu is Not a Monkey

Dr. V. Ramakantha *

Hoolock Gibbon :: Pix - Wikipedia.org

Thanks to the singular efforts of Mr. Tomchou Singh, the former Head of the Forest Department of Manipur, Sangai (Cervus eldi eldi) has become synonymous with Manipur. Deservedly, this critically endangered deer of Manipur is considered a flagship species of the State. This unique sub-species of deer and its equally unique floating habitat of the Keibul Lamjao National Park on the Loktak Lake deserve all the attention and conservation efforts.

However, it is sad to note that despite the fact that the State of Manipur sustains a large number of other equally fascinating species of flora and fauna, there is paucity of study, exploration and research on them, and that many of them are on the verge of extirpation. The HoolocK Gibbon is one such fascinating species of Manipur that deserves a high conservation priority.

Hoolock Gibbon is known as 'Yongmu' in Meiteilon, meaning 'Black Monkey'. However, Yongmu is not a monkey at all. Like in human beings, anatomically it has a 'tail-bone' at the end of its spinal column, but being an ape, it has no tail. It is the only ape of India.

Hoolock Gibbon occurs in the evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests of Manipur and other Northeastern States, except in Sikkim. No animal on earth can match its mastery over an arboreal life, as its fingers, wrists, arms and shoulders are specially adapted for it, and the animal seldom descends to the forest floor. Apes are known for their long arms, and the Hoolock Gibbon's arms are longer than those of any other apes. Gibbons brachiate from branches to branches of trees in the canopy of forests with such agility that no other mammal can match its skill and speed in covering distances through the canopy.

Hoolock gibbons live in a family, carving out an exclusive forest patch for themselves, which they defend from others of the kin. The male is pitch-dark in colour, while the adult female is coppery brown in colour. On choosing a partner, the male and the female are known to generally remain loyal to each other. The family consists of the parents and young ones making a group that seldom exceeds six members. When food is abundant, more than one family can be seen together, having a feast, especially on fig trees, their favorite tree in the forests. It is the only ape that does not build a nest for resting overnight.

Many a hillmen belonging to Manipur desisted eating meat of the gibbon. The Malangmei clan of Rongmei Naga has a relatively simple story as to why they deferred eating the meat of the gibbon. Here is the story that I picked from a friend of mine from the Senapati district of Manipur:

Once upon a time there was a young girl in the Malangmei clan who was bone-lazy. Once, her parents ridiculed her very badly. The girl felt so bad that she wandered away in the forests, never to return. The Malangmei clan thought that she has turned into an animal 'which almost resembles a human being -Paang'. That was the reason why they did not eat the meat of the gibbon. However, with modernization, old taboos and totemic relations have become a matter of the past all across the globe.

A couple of decades ago, while I was functioning as the Director of Iroisemba Zoological Garden I observed that Ibomacha Singh, the animal keeper had developed excellent bonds with one particular gibbon in the zoo. I enquired if he lets out his gibbon, would the animal return on being called back. Ibomacha Singh replied in the affirmative, and I asked him to let this gibbon, which was there in the captivity for several years to take a bit of exercise. On being released from the enclosure, the gibbon named Phoebe moved on small trees of the zoological garden with such swiftness, that for a while I was afraid that I would make news for all the wrong reasons.

Apes are exceptionally intelligent animals, and the gibbon in question, on being called, returned to the keeper as would a soldier obeys his commanding officer. Then onwards, I had made it a point to give some outdoor exercise to gibbons when visitors were not around. Here is the photograph of Phoebe taking some exercise in the zoological garden.

Late Gerald Durrell, founder of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, UK claimed that many animals in the zoos die out of sheer boredom. A change in the diet excites animals, and makes their life in captivity more bearable. The best way to ensure that a very young Hoolock Gibbon survives captivity is to keep a surrogate mother, may be in the form of a large soft doll in its enclosure. The baby gibbon whenever feels threatened would rush to the doll for comfort.

The taxonomists are at logger heads with each other with regard to the position of the gibbons of India, which once they thought, were very similar to an extinct gibbon-like species in Sichuan in China. Though such disputes occur while placing an animal at the levels of a sub-species or at the most species level, the very genus of Hoolock Gibbon has been a matter of dispute among the taxonomists. Someone would like it to belong to Bunopethicus, while the rest argue it to be Hylobates or Hoolock. One thing is very certain - the master of the jungle found in the Northeast India is an exceptionally rare and unique animal.

Not long ago Hoolock Gibbons were found in all the districts of Manipur. Mr.Tomchou Singh tells us that decades ago the reverberating calls of the gibbons could be heard even in the Longol forests that borders Imphal city. However, it is sad to note that in the past thirty years or so, more than 90 percent decline has happened in the population of the Hoolock Gibbon, making it as one of the 25 most endangered primates on planet earth.

Mao Naga people call it 'Oveu'. Gibbons were reportedly seen during the 1970s' in the 'koziirie' forest area which is the foothill jungles of the highest peak of Manipur called mount 'Isii'- but is hardly seen these days. Tangkhul Nagas call the animal 'Wuri-wura'. Mapithel Mountain in Ukhrul district is one such area which still sustains a small number of Hoolock Gibbons.

Dr. Puni Mao, my colleague in the Forest Department (the one I know who gave up eating wild meat soon after he was selected by the UPSC to serve in the Indian Forest Service) believes that in the State of Manipur, the population decline could be more than 90 per cent, as they were hunted for the pot, and in addition we hardly have forests that now sustain Hoolock Gibbons.

As Gibbons are included in the Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, killing the Hoolock Gibbon is an offence which attracts severe punishment. More than the legal angle; the whole of humanity would be proud of us if we manage to retain this flagship species of the forests of Asia in all its range and habitats in Northeast India.

We share as much as 98 % of our genes with an ape, and hence killing an ape is very near to homicide.