Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
Where is the Periyar National Park located?
What types of flora are found in the Periyar National Park?
What notable fauna can be found in the Periyar National Park?
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, wildlife preserve in south-central Keralam state, southern India. Extending over an area of 135 square miles (350 square km), the park encompasses Periyar Lake, formed in 1895 by impounding the Periyar River, and is located near the Keralam–Tamil Nadu border about 73 miles (118 km) south of Ernakulam and 170 miles (274 km) northeast of Thiruvananthapuram.
The forested land enclosing Periyar Lake was designated a reserve forest in 1899, soon after the lake’s construction, and was the hunting grounds of the rulers of the princely state of Travancore. In 1934 it was designated Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary. The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary was established on these lands in 1950 and a tiger reserve was established in 1978. The tiger reserve extends over 350 square miles (900 square km) with the Periyar National Park, established in 1982, as its core zone and critical tiger habitat.
Topography and biodiversity
At an elevation of about 4,600 feet (1,600 meters), the hilly topography has produced a lakeshore varied by numerous creeks, bays, and promontories. The vegetal cover is tropical evergreen and deciduous, with patches of dense forest including jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), teak (Tectona grandis), and kokam (tropical evergreen [Garcinia indica]) trees that produce a dark purple, plumlike fruit). One estimate suggests the presence of more than 1,900 species of angiosperms in the park. Most of the park’s grassland is now planted with eucalyptus (Eucalyptus species).
More than 150 species of butterflies, 30 species each of fish and reptiles, 10 amphibians, 250 birds, and 45 mammals are found in Periyar. The park is noted for herds of Asian elephants, sometimes having 50 members. In addition, bonnet monkeys, nilgai (Indian antelope), langurs, porcupines, sloth bears, leopards, barking deer, gray jungle fowl, kingfishers, great Indian hornbills, and southern grackles are found in the preserve. A report from 2022 pegged the number of tigers in the park to be at least 30.