dello arunachal pradesh the seventh of the 20 gibbon families in dello village in arunachal pradesh have been captured and translocated safely to nearby mehao wildlife sanctuary in lower debang valley district forest department and the international fund for animal welfarewildlife trust of india ifawwti translocated the gibbon family comprising an adult male an adult female and a male child on thursday officials said on saturday dr nupur buragohain ifawwti veterinarian who was a part of the team said the apes were healthy and fitted with microchip for future identification stating this is one of the 20 stranded families living in dello village the officials said that due to lack of contiguous forests the gibbons were forced to stray on the ground the eastern hoolock gibbons were captured from the village on february 26 and released in mehao wildlife sanctuary the next day with the ifawwti team continuing post release monitoring buragohain said the family was found in enzeeno village in an area with absolutely no canopy dr kuladeep roy project lead for ifawwtis dibang valley conservation project said gibbons are seen in tropical and subtropical rain forests from northeast india to indonesia including the islands of sumatra borneo and java six gibbon families have already been moved in the last exercise carried out in november last year they said capture and translocation are the only hope for the long term welfare of these gibbons they now have the chance to live in a suitable habitat important for the conservation of the species ian robinson vicepresident program and international operations of ifaw said mehao wildlife division mwd divisional forest officer dfo keijum rina said such efforts by the ifawwti will go a long way in strengthening the conservation efforts to save the eastern hoolock gibbon in arunachal pradesh ifawwti regional head sunil kyarong said the gibbons are totally isolated in these fragmented patches the only option left for long term conservation plan is to capture and release them in a suitable habitat i personally support such exercises and feel that it needs to be sustained to secure conducive habitat and home ranges for these gibbons project advisor ipra mekola said