Vocabulary - Context Clues question bank (Language I (English))

A few years ago I found myself in a tribal hamlet in upper Assam- that's where I met a little miracle called Kalia. She was a gibbon who'd adopted a human family. That's right, a human family and not the other way around. But this wild animal wasn't a pet. She lived free, up in the canopies of trees and yet, she chose the company of the villagers below because all of her own kind had fallen prey to hunters. Kalia was the last gibbon in the region.

Hoolock gibbons are India's lone species. They are both rare and endangered, found only in the forests of northeast India. It's easy to confuse apes with monkeys because they are both primates. However, they are entirely separate groups of animals. The simplest difference is the lack of a tail in apes. Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons are all apes. The smallest in that family are the gibbons, India's only apes - except for us as human beings are also part of the ape family.

And that is exactly how Kalia treated me-like a fellow ape. Within minutes of spotting me peering up at her in her tree, the cheeky little gibbon came down, perched herself on my camera and began grooming my head to look for nits!

I am glad I disappointed her but that didn't stop us from striking up a friendship. Kalia and I spent many afternoons thereafter; grooming each other and bonding like we'd been friends for years. She was a delight - intelligent, funny, affectionate adorable and as human as a wild animal could be.

A few years ago I found myself in a tribal hamlet in upper Assam- that's where I met a little miracle called Kalia. She was a gibbon who'd adopted a human family. That's right, a human family and not the other way around. But this wild animal wasn't a pet. She lived free, up in the canopies of trees and yet, she chose the company of the villagers below because all of her own kind had fallen prey to hunters. Kalia was the last gibbon in the region.

Hoolock gibbons are India's lone species. They are both rare and endangered, found only in the forests of northeast India. It's easy to confuse apes with monkeys because they are both primates. However, they are entirely separate groups of animals. The simplest difference is the lack of a tail in apes. Chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and gibbons are all apes. The smallest in that family are the gibbons, India's only apes - except for us as human beings are also part of the ape family.

And that is exactly how Kalia treated me-like a fellow ape. Within minutes of spotting me peering up at her in her tree, the cheeky little gibbon came down, perched herself on my camera and began grooming my head to look for nits!

I am glad I disappointed her but that didn't stop us from striking up a friendship. Kalia and I spent many afternoons thereafter; grooming each other and bonding like we'd been friends for years. She was a delight - intelligent, funny, affectionate adorable and as human as a wild animal could be.