Itanagar Biological Park, popularly called Itanagar Zoo, has inked another milestone with two Eastern Hoolock Gibbons (Hoolock leuconedys) born there within eight days, taking their population to 19 in Arunachal Pradesh.
The first baby was born to the zoo’s youngest couple ‘Jesu’ and ‘Sonu’ on December 12 and the second to ‘Bhat’ and ‘Yapa’ on December 20, the biological park’s veterinarian Dr Sorang Tadap said. Another gibbon born in September last has been named “Gandhi”, he said.
“The genders of the new-born gibbons can be identified only after four years through morphological changes in their skin colour,” Dr Tadap said, adding the baby gibbons have been kept under 15-day observation, which is a very crucial period for their survival.
The Itanagar zoo is the first lesser apes’ conservation-cum-breeding centre in the country fully funded by Central Zoo Authority (CZA) of India,. It had earned the distinction after a female gibbon was brought from Roing in Lower Dibang Valley district in 2008 and named ‘Mishmi Baido’ (Mishmi sister). It is to be mentioned that Hoolock gibbon is the only primate species in the country and the state animal of Arunachal Pradesh, where its population is around 1500 making it a highly endangered species.