Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is among the 27 renowned project tiger reserves in India. It is located in Thekkady, in Idukki district of central Kerala. Although it is known as a tiger reserve, most of the people visit this wildlife sanctuary to see the elephants playing near the Periyar Lake. Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is covered with dense evergreen forests. Moisture content is always present in the Periyar forests.

You can watch and observe different species of animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians very closely here and capture them in your camera as well. Elephants, sambars, tigers, gaurs, lion tailed macaques and nilgiri langurs are major attractions here. Besides 60 different species of mammals and 320 different categories of birds, there are 45 different kinds of reptiles, 27 different species of amphibians, 38 different types of fish and more than 160 kinds of insects/butterflies in Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Most of the area is covered with evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forests. Around 2000 kinds of flowering plants, 3 types of seed plants and 170 species of different ferns are nurtured by Periyar artificial lake and Periyar river.

The national park was incepted in 1934 with a name Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary.Later it was renamed as Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950. The sanctuary was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Later in 1991, Periyar was brought under Project Elephant.

You can experience the joy of actual safari in Periyar. You can hire a guide and a jeep to visit the interiors of the jungle. But remember to take the permit from forest authorities and read the literature on code of conduct regarding the forest rules thoroughly.