For over a century, the villagers of Barekuri, situated in India’s northeastern biodiversity hotspot, have enjoyed a unique relationship with the hoolock gibbon, the only ape species found in the country. However, this delicate coexistence is under threat. Mohit Chutia, a 55-year-old farmer and father, has dedicated himself to caring for a local gibbon family while also raising his own children.

When researcher Ishika Ramakrishna arrives to study the interactions between humans and gibbons, she partners with Mohit and the villagers to address the alarming decline in the gibbon population, which is severely impacted by habitat loss, deforestation, and industrial disasters.

The urgency of this situation underscores the broader crisis of extinction that we face today.