Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary – Tiger Reserve in Thekkady

Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady, is one of the best protected national parks in India. If the season is right, you are home to see natures amazing animals with great scenic charm, rich bio diversity and providing veritable visitor satisfaction. Sprawled over an area of 925 Sq .km., Periyar is one of the 27 tiger reserves in India. Zealously guarded and efficiently managed reserve is a repository of rare, endemic and endangered flora and fauna and forms the major watershed of two important rivers of Kerala, the Periyar and Pamba.

Periyar Tiger Reserve is a protected area in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The vast protected area covers an area of 925 km2 (357 sq mi). 350 km2 (140 sq mi) and was declared as the Periyar National Park in 1982. The terrain towards the west, merges into an extensive tableland Mount Plateau of average elevation 1200 meters. rom the edge of this plateau the land falls steeply to the thickly forested tracts of Sabarimala hills in the Pamba River basin.

The park is often called the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary or Thekkady. It is located high in the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the southern Western Ghats. People oriented and park centered community based ecotourism is the hallmark of Periyar Tiger Reserve. These programmes are conducted by local people responsible for the surveillance of the vulnerable parts of the reserve. By taking tourists along, they are involved in the conservation of the forests of Periyar and some valuable revenue is generated for community welfare. People who once made a living by illegal operations in the forests have since become forest protectors and earn their livelihood through these programmes. Hence, as a visitor, when you join them in any of these programmes, you are directly contributing towards forest conservation and community welfare.