Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary

Parambikulam is located in Palakkad district of Kerala state, south India. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, 10°28′N 76°50′E established in 1973 is a Sungam range sprawling over 285 km². It is at a distance of 135 km from Palakkad town and is situated adjacent to the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The Western Ghats, Anamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site.

Besides being an abode of elephants, wild boar, sambar, Gaur, crocodiles, and a few tigers and panthers, it has rich diversity of flora and fauna. Trekking in the forest is allowed with prior permission. Boating is available at the reservoir. There is the Kannimara Teak Tree, which is said to be Asia’s largest, near Thunakadavu.

Facts

Located adjacent to the Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary, the 285 km² stretch of forest, known as the Parambikulam Sanctuary, is one of Kerala’s premier wildlife reserves. Parambikulam lies in the Anamalai Hills, south of the Palghat Gap in the Western Ghats. The area is hilly and rocky, drained by several rivers, including the Parambikulam, the Sholayar and the Thekkedy.

Thickly forested with stands of bamboo, sandalwood, rosewood and teak, the sanctuary has some marshy land and scattered patches of grassland. Parambikulam was once home to some of south India’s finest strands of teak; most of these, however, have now been replaced by teak plantations.
Little remains of the original teak forests, other than the famous Kannimara teak tree, the largest in Asia. The tree is located at about 5 km from Thunakadavu, and is one of Parambikulam’s prime attractions.

Parambikulam’s animal species include many of India’s most prominent mammals: tiger, leopard, wild dog, sloth bear, elephant, wild boar, barking deer, spotted deer, langur and macaque. Parambikulam is also home to Kerala’s largest population of gaur. Besides these, civet, chevrotain, pangolin, crocodile, jungle cat, porcupine and some 140 species of birds are found in the sanctuary. Although the larger cats are few and far between, gaur, monkey and deer are fairly common in the sanctuary.