Observing birds takes boundless patience and pure luck. Especially in the wet Northeast, in a tangle of green muddled by shallow puddles of sunlight in deep shadows. Today is one of those mornings that stay with you. An Asian fairy bluebird calls, like viscous honey dripping onto a steel plate. Then, one leaf among a thousand grows wings and comes to life as a brilliantly camouflaged golden-fronted leafbird. The woods open into a meadow bursting at the seams with carpenter bees, dragonflies, wildflowers and a gurgling stream. And then suddenly, the tall trees at its edge echo with unexpected gibbon song: a melody rising to a memorable crescendo before lulling to a gentle ‘oooo…’. Pure melancholy.
Not many capital cities, anywhere in the world, can boast of a population of gibbons. Guwahati lives at the knife-edge of development. Its people have almost forgotten what was and often turn a blind eye to what still is. Garbhanga Reserve Forest lies in the city’s periphery, accessed from the teeming Lokhra Chariali, not far from traffic heading towards the airport. It is bounded by the city and the besieged Deepor Beel lake, ranges from Meghalaya and the once contiguous Rani forests. At some point, these forests would have been contested by Assam and Meghalaya. Now, a concrete road built by Assam winds up and down the hills.
The western hoolock gibbon, India’s only ape, is merely one of the jewels in this stunningly diverse landscape. Garbhanga is home to 254 species of butterflies, 29 species of amphibians, 64 species of reptiles, 321 species of birds and 31 species of mammals — two of them critically endangered and six endangered. A growing culture of birdwatching is opening the forest’s wealth, and its growing threats, to a larger audience. Now, there are birders who fly in on the morning flight from Kolkata to glimpse the stunning Oriental dwarf kingfisher and return in the afternoon. Others are more diligent, waiting to listen to the drumming of a pair of odd looking pale-headed woodpeckers “talking” amongst themselves in bamboo groves. But it is not clear how long it will take for this wealth to succumb to the mounting challenges of deliberate and uncontrolled urbanisation. Most of the towering housing apartments and other facilities bordering the Garbhanga landscape have sprouted up only recently.
Elaborate duets and boundary lines
Gibbon song has a haunting quality to humans because they exhibit unmistakable rhythmic qualities found in our own songs. Their songs from the canopy have introductions, repeating holding patterns and spectacular crescendo calls. Male and female gibbons perform elaborate duets with synchronised notes at regular intervals. Songs that perhaps hark back to the evolutionary origins of music itself.
But why do gibbons sing? Male and female gibbons sing duets almost every day to define territory and strengthen social bonds. Sometimes the young ones in their small families join in, too. Most creatures are territorial as adults — a strategy that makes evolutionary sense since it is more efficient to protect a cluster of resources than always seek it out. Social systems of different species have also evolved accordingly, defining how they learn and communicate.
Complex gibbon and birdsong (as delightful as they sound to us) and the howling of wolves are essentially communication of boundaries and ownership, and a show of strength and health. This means that once boundaries are laid out, conflict is usually avoided, and energy is conserved. It also serves as a mode for inter-species communication.
Humans have evolved so much now that songs usually no longer serve this purpose. The political structures of nationhood, religion and language help us to draw and preserve boundaries and land, not always without conflict. However, we no longer communicate or heed messages from other citizens across our natural world. We ride roughshod over everything else, acquiring territories at will, be it on land or water, and put every other species at peril.
Ravaged by humans
Considering the bounties it holds, 117 sq.km. of Rani (ravaged by illegal mining and quarrying, among other ills) and Garbhanga Reserve Forests were designated as the Garbhanga Wildlife Sanctuary in April 2022 via a preliminary notification. Despite its protected status, this notification was then set aside in September 2023. Sadly, recent history is rife with such instances. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (which has the highest concentration of rhinos in India) and the critical Deepor Beel (a Ramsar site) were de-notified before the move was stayed by the courts. Several instances of illegal diversion of forest lands have been seen in the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary. Most recently, oil exploration has been permitted in the ecologically fragile and isolated Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary.
It is no wonder perhaps then that Assam lost 3,240 sq.km. of tree cover during 2001-2023 (as per Global Forest Watch). In a similar period, rainfall in the state has decreased by over 10 mm on an average every year while there have been greater variations in temperature than ever.
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Not too far from where I heard the gibbons is the small Garbhanga village, with a ragged line of thatched roof shacks and a stream. I have tea from a shop on stilts perched above the river. It is a reminder of how fluid man-made boundaries are. The shop on stilts is in Assam, the population is mostly Karbi. The other side is Khasi, in Meghalaya. On my way back, I am fortunate to spot a pair of circling black bazas. These diminutive raptors, whose annual presence in Thattekkad in Kerala was one of my first draws to birding, are thought to breed here in Garbhanga.
The author is a birder and writer based in Chennai.
The fifth in a series that looks at urban spaces as havens for biodiversity and often overlooked species.
Published - October 24, 2024 05:48 pm IST