Golaghat, Jan. 13: Hollongapar gibbon wildlife sanctuary near Mariani in Jorhat district has carved out a niche for being the home of the seven species of primates out of 15 species in India. It is named after hoolock gibbon, the only ape found in the country.

But for the first time, Sarangapani Neog, a young nature lover and photography enthusiast from Golaghat tried to provide a brief understanding of around 200 species of butterflies from Hollongapar gibbon wildlife sanctuary in his maiden book, Butterflies of Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary.

The book was released yesterday at a function held at Bhagavati Baruah Bhavan in Guwahati by the additional principal conservator of forest, Abhijit Rabha, in the presence of novelist Monalisha Saikia. The 112-page book has brief descriptions of these 200 species along with photographs and information about the best time to watch them in the sanctuary. The book also has the scientific name of each species and the name of the person who first spotted it and the year. Furthermore one can know about the present status of these species of butterflies from the book.

This is the first book of its kind to showcase the butterfly species available in a wildlife sanctuary with vivid descriptions.

'The present trend has seen an awesome growth in the importance of the study of this beautiful creature of nature. But, sometimes problems abound because of the existence of numerous genres of species of butterflies and they result in complications in identification of such species. This is one reason which inspired me to write the book against the backdrop of growing importance of conservation of butterflies for the next generations,' Saranga told The Telegraph.

'This book has been written and shaped with a basic level approach aimed at students and learners and to project Hollongapar gibbon wildlife sanctuary as a hotspot for butterflies. It shall be construed as an accomplished endeavour if it ever succeeds in casting an awakening shadow on the students,' he said.

The book has classified these 200 species into five families of butterflies namely Hesperioidea, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae.