Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary

Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the most visited wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala. Located at Chittur in Palakkad district of the state, the sanctuary has become prominent because of the diverse fauna in the dense woods in this area. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the best protected reserves snuggled in the valley between the two main mountain ranges of this area, Annamalai Range of Tamilnadu and Nelliampathy Range of Kerala. The area is hilly and rocky, but it is drained by a number of rivers including three main rivers of this region that is Parambikulam River, Sholayar River and Thekkady River. The forest is thickly populated with a wide variety of shrubs and other exotic vegetation, including stands of bamboo, sandalwood and rosewood. A few parts of the sanctuary have some grassland, including some marsh land along with scattered patches of grasslands. The national park including the area adjoining area is being considered by the UNESCO to be selected as a world heritage site.

Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary offers excellent opportunities for nature lovers and explorers, both in terms of fauna and flora population. There is a modern interpretation centre which is located at Anappadi. It is well equipped with state-of-the-art audio visual facilities. The interpretation centre is well equipped with interactive three dimensional models of bio-diversity hotspots, of the world, Western Ghats, Kerala and Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary. So, one can go on a tour of this facility.

Geography
Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is located 135 km from Palakkad town. It is neighboring Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary on the east side in Tamil Nadu. The altitude of the sanctuary ranges between 300m and 1438m. The major peak in this part of forest is Karimala Peak, which lies on the southern boundary of the sanctuary. The sanctuary also has three manmade reservoirs - Parambikulam, Thunacadavu and Peruvaripallam, which combined cover a total area of 20.66sqkm. Interestingly, one of the major waterfalls of the area Thuvaiar Waterfalls empty into one of these reservoirs. There are seven major valleys which are formed by the three rivers and many other rivulets and streams.

Flora
Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is full of a large variety of vegetation, which are exotic and exclusive to this part of the forest. The common trees seen here include teak, Neem, sandalwood and rosewood. The oldest ever teak tree Kannimara Teak which exists here attracts tourists to this sanctuary. The tree is about 450 years old and has an amazing cinch of 6.8 meters and a height of 49.5 meters. It won the Mahavriksha Puraskar which is awarded by the Indian Government.

Fauna
Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary has a large and rich variety of animals including mammals, amphibians, birds, fishes and reptiles. The major mammals which are found in this reservoir are Bonnet Macaques, Nilgiri Tahr, Indian leopards, wild boar, Bengal tigers, Sambar, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri Langurs, Nilgiri Marten, small Travancore Flying Squirrel, sloth bears, elephants and gaur. Apart from these, the major animals which are found here include Travancore kukri snake, Travancore wolf snake, Cochin cane turtle, Travancore tortoise, Indian day gecko, tilapia, noori, mooshu, poochutti, kollotty, Little Cormorant, Black eagle, Black-capped kingfisher and numerous other amphibians.

Wildlife in Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary                                                                         

Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary has richest diversity of mammals in entire Western Ghats which includes 36 species of animals, 61 species of reptiles, 47 species of fishes, 16 species of amphigians and 268 species of birds. Tourists can see here animals like Bengal tigers, elephants, lion tailed macaques, Indian leopard, sambar, Niligiri tahr, gaur, Niligir langurs, Travancore flying squirrel, barking deer and sloth bears. Common reptiles found here are king cobras, pythons, Indian day gecko, flying lizard, Travancore tortoise and Kerala sheildtail. Tourists can also see other important reptiles like vine snake, rat snake, ugger crocodile, krait and green keel back.

This sanctuary is home to 138 rarest species of birds like black woodpecker, darter, black eagle, black capped kingfisher, and little cormorant and great Indian hornbill. Tourists can spot here more than 128 different species of butterflies out of which 34 species are rarest. The sanctuary is healthy population of amphibians like bufo parietalis, verrucose frog, large wrinkled frog, rana keralensis, rana leptodactyla, bronzed frog, south Indian frog and reddish burrowing frog.

Major attractions in Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary                                                                  

Parambikulam dam offers breathtaking view of the surrounding. Tourists can take cruise ride to see hidden treasure of surrounding forests. Tourists can spot crocodiles, wild boars and otters while cruise ride.

Thoonakkadavu Lake is surrounded by lush green forest. Tourists can spot crocodiles in the crystal clear water of the Lake. Tourists can enjoy beauty of Lake by boat ride.

The world’s largest teak tree
Tourists can pay visit to Kanniamra, the world’s largest teak tree. The tree is more than 400 years old and has girth of 6.48 m as well as height of 48.75 m.

Watch towers To enjoy birds view with lush greenery tourists can climb up the Chungam and Annaipadi watchtowers.

Trekking
Trekking in the sanctuary is an enormously enjoyable affair. While trekking tourists, can acquainted with animals like elephant gangs, gaur herds, Niligiri Langur, varities of snakes, birds, Malabar squirrels and many more.

Best time to visit
Parambikulam has typical Indian climatic conditions. It has heavy rainfall in the season of monsoon. Summers are quite hot and humid here and get little rainfall also. Winter is warm and clam. Best time to visit the sanctuary is from October to march because of excellent climate.

How to Reach: 
By road –the sanctuary is well connected with town of Thiruvannthapuram and Palakkad with regular bus services. These towns are well connected with daily bus services with major cities of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
By rail – to reach the sanctuary by train, the nearest railway station is Pollachi at a distance of 60 kilometers. Pollachi is well connected by daily trains with major cities of the nation.
By air – Coimbatore is the nearest airport to reach the sanctuary by flights at a distance of 100 kilometers and well connected by daily flights with major cities.