ACTIVITY 5 ,NATIONAL PARKS IN KERALA .

       NATIONAL PARKS IN KERALA

 ERAVIKULAM NATIONAL PARK

Perched 7000 ft. above sea level, is break taking in the size and diversity of flora and fauna. A former hunting preserves of the British planters, the Park today exemplifies wildlife at its best. It was declared a Sanctuary in 1975 with the intention of protecting the indigenous population of Nilgiri Tahr (highly endangered mountain goat). However, in 1978, it was declared as a National Park considering it’s ecological, faunal, geomorphological and Zoological Significance. This is also the land of “Neelakurinji”, the flower that blooms once in twelve years. The Park is breath takingly beautiful and is easily comparable to the best of mountain ranges in the Alps.  With the highest peak south of the Himalayas – the Anamudi, located here, nature enthusiasts have ample opportunities for trekking expeditions and wildlife spotting.  The Park covers an area of 97 Km2 of rolling grasslands and high-level sholas. Twenty-nine (29) species of mammals have been recorded in the park including the largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr, estimated at 750 individuals. The other ungulates are lion-tailed macaques, gaur, Indian muntjac and sambar deer. Golden jackal, jungle cat, wild dog, dhole, leopard and tiger are the main predators. Some little-known animals such as Nilgiri langur, stripe-necked mongoose, Indian porcupine, Nilgiri marten, small clawed otter, ruddy mongoose, and dusky palm squirrel are also found. Elephants make seasonal visits.140 species of birds have been recorded and 10 are unique to the wester ghats. which include endemics like black-and-orange flycatcher, Nilgiri pipit, Nilgiri wood pigeon, white bellied shortwing, Nilgiri flycatcher and kerala laughing thrush. Endemic butterflies confined to the shola-grass land ecosystem like the red disk bushbrown and Palni fourring. more than 101 species of butter flies had been recorded here. Other montane species include Colias nilagiriensis, and the endemic Telinga davisoni.20 species of amphibians have been recorded in the park. Three major types of plant communities are found in the Park – grasslands, shrublands and forests. The terrain above 2000m is covered primarily by grasslands. However, there are numerous small patches of forests in hollows and gullies in these areas. Important flora includes Actinodaphne bourdilloni, Microtropis ramiflora, Pittosporum tetraspermium, Sysygium aronottianum,Chrysopogon Zelanieus, Eupatorium adenophorum, Strobilanthus Kunthianus (Neela Kurinji), Eulalia phaeothrix, Tripogen bromodes, Arundinella fuscata, Cyanotis Species etc.

The shola grasslands are exceptionally rich in balsams and orchids including the long thought extinct variety Brachycorythis wightii .

PERIYAR NATIONAL PARK

Periyar National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (PNP) is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, India. It is notable as an elephant reserve and a tiger reserve. The protected area encompasses 925 km2 (357 sq. mi), of which 305 km2 (118 sq. mi) of the core zone was declared as the Periyar National Park in 1982. The park 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 the Pamba. Earlier it was under the reign of the Pandayas in 12th century a dam named Mullaperiyar was constructed across the west flowing river Periyar. As a result, it created an artificial lake in the area which today stands at the centre of the sanctuary, enhancing its beauty to greater extents. With the creation of this lake, the landscape and the features of the valley changed drastically.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the reserve was the hunting ground of the Travancore kings, which is today the part of most of the Southern Kerala. In 1899, the area was declared as a forest reserve called the Periyar Lake Reserve with an intention of protecting the hunting areas of the kings from the encroachment of tea plantations. Further, in 1934, the lake reserve was converted into a game sanctuary, the Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary. The Game Sanctuary covered an area of about 500 sq km. In 1950, some more area was added to create the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. In 1978, the sanctuary was included in the Central Government initiative to be known as the Project Tiger and was renamed as Periyar Tiger Reserve.In 1992, the reserve also became a part of Project Elephant when it was launched by the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests to protect the free ranging populations of wild Asian elephants in various states of India. .The first official action towards the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity in Kerala was taken in 1934 by the Maharaja of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, by declaring the forests around Periyar lake as a private reserve to stop the encroachment of tea plantations. It was founded as Nellikkampatty Reserve. It was consolidated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1950 after the political integration of India. The park is made up of tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests, grasslands, stands of eucalyptus, and lake and river ecosystems. There are many hundreds of flowering plant taxa, including about 171 species of grass and 140 species of orchids. The grasses are found in the open grasslands found on the edges of the water body where fire resistant vegetation grows and dense grasses like elephant grass are found. This is the common dining hall of various herbivores. The forests contain deciduous and semi evergreen trees like teak, rosewoods, terminalias, sandalwoods, jacarandas, mangoes, jamun, tamarind, banyans, sacred fig, plumerias, royal poinciana, kino tree, bamboos and the only south Indian conifer, nageian wallichiana. The medicinal gloriosa lily grows in the park. The endemic flora includes Habenaria periyarensis and Syzygium periyarensis. The park is surrounded by agricultural regions, especially plantations of such crops as tea, cardamom, and coffee. There are 35 species of mammals recorded in the park, including many threatened species. It is an important tiger and elephant reserve. A total of 40 Bengal tigers were counted across 925 square kilometers of the park in 2017.It is valuable for Asian elephant and also for a few of white tigers found here. Other mammals include the gaur, sambar, wild pig, Indian giant squirrel, Travancore flying squirrel, jungle cat, Dhole, sloth bear, Nilgiri tahr, lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri langur, Salim Ali's fruit bat, stripe-necked mongoose, and Nilgiri marten. About 266 species of birds can be seen in the park, including migrants. Endemic birds include the Malabar grey hornbill, Nilgiri wood pigeon, blue-winged parakeet, Nilgiri flycatcher, crimson-b.There are 45 species of reptiles- 30 snakes, 13 lizards, and two turtles. Snakes include the king cobra, Malabar pit viper, and striped coral snake.acked sunbird, and white-bellied r, and black-necked stork.

SILENT VALLY NATIONAL PARK

The core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the Silent Valley National Park is probably one of the most magnificent gifts of nature to mankind, a unique preserve of tropical rain forests in all its pristine glory with an almost unbroken ecological history. Silent Valley is closed on all sides with high and continuous ridges and steep escarpments, as a result the valley is shielded from the extremes of climate as well as anthropogenic interventions and so it remained an ecological island with a special micro climate. The river Kunthi descends from the Nilgiri Hills above an altitude of 2000 m and traverses the entire length of the valley finally rushing down to the plains through a deep gorge.  Silent Valley is virtually a botanist’s treasure-trove. The flora of the valley includes about a 1000 species of flowering plants, 107 species of orchids, 100 ferns and fern allies, 200 liverworts, 75 lichens and about 200 algae. Of these plants a good majority is endemic to the Western Ghat’s. Silent Valley Reserve Forest can be classified under four forest types . West-coast tropical evergreen forest (600 to 1100 m), Southern subtropical broad leaved hill forest (1300 to 1800 m),Southern montane wet temperate forest (above 1900 m) and  Grassland. National Park is rich in faunal diversity and harbours 34 species of mammals, 292 species of birds, 31 species of reptiles, 22 species of amphibians, 13 species of fishes, 500 species of butterflies and moths, besides a multitude of lower forms of animal life most of which are yet to be documented. The valley has a fair representation of all peninsular mammals. They are Lion-tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Bonnet Macaque, Tiger, Leopard (Panther), Leopard Cat, Jungle Cat, Fishing Cat, Common Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Brown Palm Civet, Ruddy Mongoose, Stripe necked Mongoose, Wild Dog, Sloth Bear, Otter, Flying Squirrel, Malabar Giant Squirrel, Indian Pangolin (Scaly anteater), Porcupine, Wild Boar, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Gaur and Elephant.

PAMPADUM SHOLA NATIONAL PARK

Pampadum Shola National Park is the smallest national park in Idukki district of Kerala in India. It is on the border with Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. The park is administered by the Kerala Department of Forests and Wildlife. The terrain is undulating with hillocks of varying heights. The altitudes range between 1600-2400 m. The forest is seen as a continuous patch from 1600 m up to 2000 m, above which grasslands prevails with small forest patches distributed among them. The National Park offers a wide range of habitat types to the flora and fauna. 22 Species of trees, 74 species of herbs and shrubs, 16 species of climbers. The fauna includes several  threatened, rare or endemic species. The numbers of rare and endemic species found were high when the extent of Shola forest is taken into consideration. The species Parantica nilgiriensis (Nymphalidae) which is restricted to some hills of South India and listed as threatened by IUCN was recorded to be highly abundant in the area. Besides this, other rare species include Libythea lepita, Pantoporia ranga, Rohana pariasatis, Zipoetis saintis and Jamides dalecto. There are about 14 species of birds, 9 species of mammals, 100 species of butterflies and 93 species of moths recorded from the Shola. The important animals found in the Park are elephant, gaur, leopard, wild boar, sambar and common langur.

MATHIKETTAN SHOLA NATIONAL PARK 

Considering the unique nature of the shola forest in Mathikettan and its importance as an elephant strip, the state government has declared it as a National park in 2008. The park falls in Udumbanchola Taluk of Pooppara Village with an extent of 12.82 sq kms. One of the shola parks in Idukki, the place is considered to be the abode of several endemic species of flora and fauna. This tract was notified as a Reserve Forest by the Travancore Government in 1897. Part of the land, prior to becoming a national park, had been leased out for the production of Cardamom. It was declared a National Park on 21 November 2003 to protect its ecological, faunal, floral and geographical wealth and its environment. rich variety of animal life in gaur, wild boar, sambar, common langur, wild dog and jungle cat. The National Park is a biodiversity hotspot with its rich treasure of medicinal herbs as well. A Muthavan tribal colony at Aduvilanthankudy is situated about the northeastern borders of Mathikettan Shola.

ANAMUDI SHOLA NATIONAL PARK 

Anamudi Shola National Park is a protected area located along the Western Ghats of Idukki district in Kerala state, India. It is composed of Mannavan shola, Idivara shola and Pullardi shola, covering a total area of around 7.5 km². Draft notification of this new park was released on 21 November 2003. The national park is a home for large number of faunal and floral species. The park consists of some of the rarest types of plants and species which are not found anywhere else.

The park provides safe and comfortable habitat to these wild species of flora and fauna. The rich wildlife includes Elephant, Tiger, Nilgiri tahr, Gaur, Spotted Deer, Sambar, Grizzled Giant Squirrel, Hanuman Langur, Sloth Bear, Flying Squirrels etc .