Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), recorded as Endangered
Western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Western hoolock gibbon

Hoolock hoolock

The western hoolock gibbon is a primate from the gibbon family, Hylobatidae.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Hoolock hoolock
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Primates · Hylobatidae · Hoolock

The primate

Western hoolock gibbon is a primate in the family Hylobatidae (order Primates) — Hoolock hoolock.

Range and habitat

In India and Bangladesh, the western hoolock gibbon is found where the canopy is contiguous, broad-leaved, wet evergreen and mixed evergreen forests, among them dipterocarp forests and often in mountainous terrain. The species is found in Assam, Mizoram, and Meghalaya in India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar west of the Chindwin River.

Habitat labels include forest.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

Numerous threats exist for western hoolock gibbons in the wild, and they are now entirely dependent on human action for their survival. Threats include habitat encroachment by humans, forest clearance for tea cultivation, the practice of jhuming (slash-and-burn cultivation), hunting for food and "medicine", capture for trade, and forest degradation. Since the 1980s, western hoolock gibbon numbers are estimated to have dropped from more than 100,000 (Assam alone was estimated to have around 80,000 in the early 1970s) to less than 5,000 individuals (a decline of more than 90%).

In 2009 it was considered to be one of the 25 most endangered primates, though it has been dropped from the later editions of the list, and is rated as endangered by the IUCN.

Western hoolock gibbon is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Western hoolock gibbon, Wikidata item Q577084. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

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Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Western hoolock gibbon?
The western hoolock gibbon is a primate from the gibbon family, Hylobatidae.
What is the conservation status of Western hoolock gibbon?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Hoolock hoolock. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Western hoolock gibbon live?
In India and Bangladesh, the western hoolock gibbon is found where the canopy is contiguous, broad-leaved, wet evergreen and mixed evergreen forests, among them dipterocarp forests and often in mountainous terrain.
Why is Western hoolock gibbon in crisis?
Since the 1980s, western hoolock gibbon numbers are estimated to have dropped from more than 100,000 (Assam alone was estimated to have around 80,000 in the early 1970s) to less than 5,000 individuals (a decline of more than 90%).
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Hoolock hoolock?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Western hoolock gibbon a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.