Periyar National Park
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| Periyar National Park | |
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| IUCN Category II (National Park) | |
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| Location: | Idukki, India |
| Nearest city: | Kochi, India |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 305 km² |
| Established: | 1982 |
| Visitation: | 180,000 (in 1986) |
Periyar is a protected area, and a Project Tiger nature reserve in the South Indian State of Kerala, set high in the mountains of the Western Ghats at the border to Tamil Nadu. It lies in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta. The protected area covers an area of 777 km², out of which a 350 km² part of the core zone was made into the Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve, sometimes dubbed the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. The park is often called by the name thekkady also. Thekkady is located four km from Kumily, approximately 100 km east of Alappuzha, 110 km west of Madurai and 120 km southeast from Kochi.
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[edit] Area
The Periyar protected area lies in the middle of a mountainous area in the Western Ghats. In the north and the east it is bounded by mountain ridges of over 1700 Meter altitude and toward the west it expands into a 1200 Meter high plateau. From this level the altitude drops steeply to the deepest point of the reserve, the 100 Meter valley of the river Pamba. The highest peak is the 2019 Meter high Kottamalai.
The sanctuary surrounds picturesque 26 km² Periyar lake, formed by the building of Mullaperiyar Dam in 1895. This reservoir and the Periyar river meander around the contours of the wooded hills, providing a permanent source of water for the local wildlife.
[edit] Climate
The temperatures vary depending upon the altitude and it ranges between 15° Celsius in December and January and 31° Celsius in April and May. The annual amount of precipitation lies between 2000 and 3000 mm. About two thirds of the precipitation occurs during the southwest monsoon between June to September. A smaller amount of precipitation occurs during the northeast monsoon between October and December.
[edit] Vegetation
Approximately 75% of the entire protected area are covered of unaffected evergreen or semi-evergreen rain forest. There typically tall tropical tree species such as Vateria indica, Cullenia exarillata, Hopea parviflora, Canarium strictum, Artocarpus hirsutus and Bischofia javanica are seen. They reach heights of 40 to 50 Metres.
Scarcely 13% consists of damp leaves forest, 7% of Eukalyptus plantation and 1.5% of grassland. The remainder (around 3.5%) of the protected area is covered by the Periyar artificial lake as well as the Periyar River and Pamba rivers.
Altogether the reservation counts nearly 2000 kinds of flowering plants (Angiosperms), three kinds of seed plants (gymnosperms) and 170 different species of ferns. Among the Angiosperms, there are 169 families of sweet grasses and 155 kinds of Fabaceae. Orchids, with 145 representative types, are the most frequent flower.
About 350 of the occurring plant types can be used for medical purposes.
[edit] Animal world
[edit] Mammals
Altogether 62 different kinds of mammal have been recorded in Periyar, including many threatened ones. The most famous is probably the tiger, and there are about 35 to 40 tigers. Though it's titled a tiger reserve, tourists also come here to view the Indian elephants in the act of ablution and playfulness by the Periyar lake. The elephant number around 900 to 1000 individuals. Other mammals found here include gaur, sambar (horse deer), barking deer, mouse deer, Dholes (Indian wild dogs), mongoose and leopards. Also inhabiting the park, though rarely seen, are the elusive Nilgiri tahr.
Four species of primates are found at Periyar - the rare lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri Langur, the common langur, and the Bonnet Macaque.
[edit] Birds
So far 320 different kinds have been counted in Periyar. The bird life includes darters, cormorants, kingfishers, the great Malabar hornbill and racket-tailed Drongos.
[edit] Reptiles
There are 45 different kinds of reptile in the protected area out of which there are 30 snake, two turtle, and 13 lizard species. Among those are Monitor lizards that can be spotted basking in the sun on the rocks along the lake shore. Visitors who trek into the Periyar national park often see a Python and sometimes even a King Cobra.
[edit] Amphibians
Twenty seven different kinds have been recorded, of which ten are endemic to the Western Ghats.
[edit] Fish
In the waters of the protected area 38 different fish types live, of which four are endemic to the Western Ghats. In artificial lake there are two introduced species : the tilapia originally from Africa and the carps introduced from Europe .
[edit] Insects
There is a remarkable variety of butterflies and there are about 160 different kinds in total.
[edit] History
1895 - Construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam
1899 - Formation of the Periyar Lake Reserve
1933 - S.C.H. Robinson made the first game warden
1934 - Formation of Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary
1950 - Consolidation of Periyar as a Wildlife sanctuary
1978 - Declaration of Periyar as a Tiger Reserve
1982 - Preliminary notification of the core area as a National Park
1991 - Brought under Project Elephant
1996 - India Ecodevelopment Project launched
2001 - Reorganised as two Divisions: Periyar East and Periyar West
[edit] Tourists and Pilgrims
The Periyar tiger reserve is a well monitored National park and the Ecotourism project in the park is considered to be one of the successful ecotourism projects in India. The core zone of the park is not accessible to the tourists. Within the buffer zone of 430 km², a zone of 55 km² is kept apart for tourism. This zone essentially covers the bank and edges of the lake. In the lake, boat travel are offered to the tourists.
In the buffer zone there is also the temple of Sabarimala, which is visited by about 4 million pilgrims annually.
