‘A hoolock gibbon treated me like her family —without canopies, India’s only apes are trapped’

Natural history filmmaker Ashwika Kapur is India’s youngest and first woman chronicler to have won a Panda Award or ‘Green Oscar’ in a global category, recognised as best emerging filmmaker for her feature on a kakapo bird. Writing in Times Evoke Inspire, Ashwika now describes what drew her to the world of hoolock gibbons, India’s only

ape

species — and her friendship with an ape called Kalia:


A few years ago, I travelled to a quiet corner of northeast India, looking to make a documentary. I found myself in a quaint tribal hamlet tucked away in

upper Assam

— that’s where I met a little miracle called Kalia. She was a

hoolock gibbon

who’d adopted a human family.

That’s right, a human family and not the other way around. But this wild animal wasn’t a pet. She lived free, up in the canopies of trees, and yet, she chose the company of the villagers below because all of her own kind had fallen prey to hunters. Kalia was the last gibbon in that region.

Hoolock gibbons are India’s lone ape species. They are both rare and endangered, found only in the forests of northeast India. It’s easy to confuse apes with monkeys because they are both primates. However, they are entirely separate groups of animals. The simplest difference is the lack of a tail in apes.

MEET THE FAMILY: As Ashwika learnt, hoolock apes and human beings are in fact related. Photo Courtesy: Ashwika Kapur

Chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons are all apes. The smallest in that family are the gibbons, India’s

only apes

— except for us as human beings are also part of the ape family. And that is exactly how Kalia treated me — like a fellow ape. Within minutes of spotting me peering up at her in her tree, the cheeky little gibbon came down, perched herself on my camera and began grooming my head to look for nits! I’m glad I disappointed her in that department but that didn’t stop us from striking up a fabulous friendship.

Kalia and I spent many afternoons thereafter, grooming each other and bonding like we’d been friends for years. She was a delight — intelligent, funny, affectionate, adorable and as human as a wild animal could be. But beautiful things are fragile and often can’t survive the harsh world of reality.

FROM A CHILD’S EYES: Facing habitat loss, the future of the hoolock gibbon is threatened. Photo Courtesy: Ashwika Kapur


A few months after we met, I got the dreadful news that a local man had, with deliberate intent, killed her. Why anyone would want to harm a creature so pure, so trusting and so beautiful is beyond me. Perhaps such is human nature. The devastating news left me shattered. But finally, I decided to channel that grief into learning about Kalia’s species and helping to solve the challenges they face. I’ve since been back in Assam, filming gibbons for an international conservation series.

This time, I travelled to a different village, where whole populations of hoolock gibbons still live in harmony with people.

In a world coldly indifferent to the plight of animals, Barekuri village in Assam stands out as an idyllic example of human-animal harmony. The lives of Barekuri’s people are so entwined with the species, they treat the animals like their own siblings. When I was there, the village even held a religious ritual for all the local gibbons that had passed on in the last ten years, praying for the peace of their souls, just as they would for their own human ancestors. But the compassion of Barekuri alone cannot save the hoolock gibbons. The home range of this endangered animal is in alarming decline, which is why they are forced to live so close to people in the first place.

Their natural habitat is made of fragmented forest patches — outside these lie miles of bare, flat, industrial or agricultural land with little or no tree cover. But gibbons are entirely arboreal and refuse to come to the ground. So, to them, the edge of the forest is as good as a cliff’s edge. When there is no canopy beyond a forest, there is nowhere to go — this is why they are trapped in islands, unable to move between forests and mingle with new populations.

If tree canopies are not created and connected between their habitats, the future looks bleak for India’s only apes. Luckily though, not everyone has forgotten the gibbon. The relentless work of conservationists, the forest department and the compassion of many people in Assam give me hope.

While most of us may not have heard of this species, there are people working very hard to give India’s forgotten apes the empathy, care and protection they need. Today, while I utter a quiet prayer for Kalia, I say to these people, thank you. May your efforts bear fruit — may every innocent gibbon live a smiling life in a wonderful tree.

Times Evoke Inspire presents a unique space for young readers to express their thoughts on the environment. Write in to: timesevoke@timesgroup.com


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