Jorhat, Jan. 17: The forest department today held an awareness meeting on the protection of hoolock gibbons and other endangered species, at Ketetong village under Margherita police station in Tinsukia district, three days after a villager allegedly killed Kalia, a gibbon, in the village.
Ranjan Kumar Das, the divisional forest officer of Digboi forest division, said the forest department personnel have appealed to the villagers not to harm wildlife, especially the hoolock gibbons, which visit inhabited areas from the nearby upper Dihing reserve forest.
"We have already registered a case in connection with the killing of this particular hoolock gibbon, which visited the village regularly and had become a kind of a pet for the villagers," Das said.
Nature's Beckon, an environmental activists' group, today demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the killing of Kalia, and alleged that the forest department had not taken any steps to arrest the guilty.
"There are provisions to book these culprits under the Wildlife Protection Act and the forest department should take immediate steps," said Manas Pratim Gogoi, another activist of the group.
Condolence messages had started pouring in after the news of the hoolock gibbon's demise spread.
Manju Borah, film director and producer, said she was very sad to learn of Kalia's death.
"I came across this lovely creature at Ketetong while shooting my film Joymati in 2006. Whenever I visited the village and sat with Bhupeswar Ningda's family, I made sure that I met Kali#a and offered some fruits. How can people be so cruel to kill such a lovely creature," she said in a message.
Kalia was also famous among the tourists who would come to Ningda's house to be photographed with Kalia or to film her.
Stephan Moray, a professor in linguistics from the US, who visited Ketetong village in 2007, said he was extremely sad to hear the news.
"I will never forget the night I slept at Ningda's house, waking up in the morning and hearing Kalia. I did not know what it was and did not believe that it could be a hoolock gibbon till I saw her," he said.
Kalia came to Ketetong village during the eighties with a mate and they also had a child soon after.
The male gibbon died and the baby gibbon was killed by a dog.
In the nineties, Ningda started taking care of Kalia and became friends with the hoolock gibbon.
Ningda's family will hold the doha, a ritual held on the tenth day of a funeral, in memory of Kalia.