India’s Only Ape Species Crosses Railway Track Using Man-Made Sky Bridge In Assam (WATCH)

A video from Assam’s famed Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary has gone viral after an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer shared rare footage of a hoolock gibbon, India’s only ape species, successfully using a specially designed canopy bridge to cross a railway line. The video was posted on X by IFS officer Parveen Kaswan. 

Kaswan described it as the first confirmed instance of a gibbon using the man-made bridge inside the sanctuary, and reportedly the first documented case anywhere in the world of a gibbon crossing above an active railway track through such a structure.

The clip showed the suspended mesh canopy bridge stretched high above the railway line as the agile primate carefully navigated its way across. Hanging effortlessly while balancing with precision, the lone hoolock gibbon moved steadily across the rope-and-net pathway, pausing briefly at moments before continuing its journey.

Sharing the video, Kaswan wrote, “Do you know Hoolock Gibbons are India’s only ape, and it spends almost its entire life in the treetops?”

He explained that the canopy bridge had been specially created inside Assam’s Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary to help the endangered primates safely travel between fragmented forest patches without being forced to descend to the ground.

Kaswan further highlighted that the successful crossing marked not just the sanctuary’s first confirmed use of the bridge by a gibbon, but also the first globally documented case of a gibbon using a man-made canopy bridge over a railway line.

The initiative was credited to the Assam Forest Department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), whose collaborative efforts made the innovative conservation project possible.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also shared the video on his official X account and wrote, “A year after installing the arboreal canopy bridge, a Hoolock Gibbon is now using it to safely cross the railway track.”

He further added, "A small but significant example that shows how science-led interventions can make a real difference in conservation."

Hoolock gibbons, known for their haunting calls, extraordinary agility, and long swinging arms, are India’s only ape species. Found mainly across northeastern states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and parts of Mizoram, these endangered primates spend nearly their entire lives in forest canopies.

Unlike monkeys, hoolock gibbons do not possess tails and are heavily dependent on uninterrupted treetop cover for survival. Living in close-knit monogamous family groups, they also play a vital ecological role by dispersing seeds and helping maintain healthy forest ecosystems.