THEKKADY OVERVIEW

Thekkady is located about 220 km (160 mi) from Trivandrum, 150 km from Madurai City and Madurai Airport, 160 km from Cochin International Airport and 180 km from Kottayam railway station. Thekkady is located near to Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The sanctuary is famous for its dense evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests and savanna grass lands. It is home to herds of elephants, sambar, tigers, gaur, lion-tailed Macaques and Nilgiri Langurs.

The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is spread across 777 km2 (300 sq mi), of which 360 km2 (140 sq mi) is thick evergreen forest. The Wild Life Sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. The splendid artificial lake formed by the Mullaperiyar Dam across the Periyar River adds to the charm of the park. The greatest attractions of Periyar are the herds of wild elephants, deers, bisons that come down to drink in the lake. Sanctuary can be accessed through a trekking, boating or jeep safari.

The forests of Periyar can be divided into four categories.

• The open grasslands are home to the Elephants, the Bison and herds of deer.
• The moist deciduous forest is dominated by trees like Terminalia and Teak which shed their leaves seasonally.
• The semi-evergreen forest occurs along wet stream areas and is often adjacent to the tropical evergreen forest.
• The ‘Sholas’ or tropical evergreen jungle which is typical of the entire western Ghats in the state, abounds in this Reserve .

The varied habitat in the sanctuary supports a number of species of terrestrial, aquatic and arboreal animals. Apart from Elephants, other herbivores in the Reserve are Gaur, Bonnet macaque, Sambar deer, Barking deer, Jungle cat,  Nilgiri langur,  Lion-tailed macaque, Mouse deer etc Wild dog, Tiger, Leopard,  etc are the major carnivores seen in the area. Other important animals are Jackal,  Pangoline, Porcupine,  Indian Giant Squirrel, Bear, small Indian Civet, Mongoose, Wild boar and the  Malabar flying squirrel.