elephant trails

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary is located in Devikulam taluk of Idukki district. Chinnar was declared as wildlife sanctuary in 1984. The sanctuary has an area of 90 sq.km. Chinnar has the unique thorny scrub forest with Xerophytic vegetation. The physical location of the sanctuary is in the eastern slope of Anamalai bio-geographic zone of Western Ghats, which separate Palani Hills.

The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is important from the viewpoint of long-term conservation of biodiversity in the region, not only because it has a wide range of forest vegetation, but also since it occupies a pivotal position in a larger network of conservation areas in the region. This tract of forest extends from the Anamalai Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu and the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve of Kerala along the Eravikulam National Park, and southward to the Manjampatty-Kukkal valleys on the north slope of the Palnis and the scattered remnant sholas of the high ranges. So the varied biotopes of the sanctuary offers high biodiverstiy with endemism. The undulated landscape of Chinnar with open forests and grass land is its unique feature.  

Topography & climate

The undulating terrain with rocky patches manifolds the scenic splendor of the sanctuary. As the altitude varies from 500 to 2,400 m above sea level within a few kilometer radius, there is a drastic variation in the climate and vegetation. The highest peaks are Kottakombu Malai (2144m), Vellaikal Malai (1863m) and Viriyoottu Malai (1845m). Along with the altitudinal gradient, this sanctuary has also rainfall ranging from 600 mm to 3000 mm and a dry season ranging from three to six months. Unlike in most other forests of Kerala, Chinnar gets only about 48 rainy days in a year, during October -November (North-East monsoons

                The climate of the sanctuary is dry. Hot day and cool night is its regular feature.

Pambar- one of the east flowing rivers of Kerala is the major water shed of the sanctuary. It joined with Athiyoda and Chinnar in the state border at Koottar.

Forest type

The forest types ranging from montane wet temperate forests in the highest reaches of the sanctuary to low elevation vegetation occur in the sanctuary. Dry deciduous forest and scrub jungle occurs at lower elevations and as the altitude increases, they give way for mixed deciduous forests at mid elevations and shola grassland vegetation at higher elevations. Even at lower slopes on the banks of Pambar and Chinnar, there are narrow stretches of riverine forests, which are characterized by high profile and evergreen canopy.

Flora

The following species are found in the thorny scrub forests: Acacia arabica (karivelam) Acacia leucofolia (velvelam) Acacia concinna (cheevaka) Prosopis juliflora (prosopis), and Opuntia dillenii (kallimul) Dry forests are charecterised by the presence of Santalum album (chandanam), Anogeissus latifolia (mazhukanjiram), Terminalia arjuna (nirmaruthu), Pongamia glabra (pongau) Largerstroemia lanceolata (ventheku), Dalbergia latifolia (rosewood), Tectona grandis (teak), Cassia fistula (konna), Terminalia bellerica (thanni), Emblica officianalis (nelli) etc. are the common species. Rhododendrom nilagiricum (kattu chemparathi), Elaeocarpus recurvatus (rudraksham),and Strobilanthus kunthianus (neelakurinji) grow on higher elevations.

Fauna

Elephant, gaur, leopard, spotted deer, barking deer, mouse deer, sambar, grizzled giant squirrel, tufted grey langur, civet cat, Malabar palm civet, Small Indian Mongoose, Brown Mongoose etc  inhabit the lower elevations where as Nilgiri Langur, Nilgiri Marten, Malabar Giant squirrel, Nilgir Tahr are reported from upper elevations. The grizzled Giant squirrel is an endemic species.

Starred tortoise is the characteristic species of reptile of the sanctuary. Indian Pond terrapin, Travancore tortoise, common cobra, Bedomi’s keel back, Mugger, rock agama, many species of calottes etc are the dominating reptilian fauna.

                The streams and rivers of Chinnar hold many endemic species of fishes and amphibians. Many species from Garra family are endemic to this region.

Birds: Chinnar is a hot spot for birders. The sanctuary recorded 280 species of birds, including migrants. Grey headed bull bull, white throated bull bull etc are characteristic birds. The sanctuary hold blue faced malkoha, Sirkeer Malkoha, etc which is not common in other part of Kerala. This is the only place in Kerala for Chestnut winged Petronia.

The Chinnar sanctuary is accessible by good roads from the airports of Coimbatore and Kochi. The nearest railway stations are Aluva (200km) and Pollachi (60km). The Sanctuary is well connected with Munnar and Udumelpet by road.  

Prehistoric Site

Chinnar is one of the oldest prehistoric sites in Kerala. The sanctuary bears the biggest rock art corpus in Kerala dated Mesolithic antiquity. Apart from rock art sites hundreds of Megalithic monuments buried in the forest.

WILDLIFE TOURISM IN CHINNAR

Wildlife tourism is well developed in Ch

innar with good in fractures, enough for nature lovers. Following are the activities available in the Sanctuary. The wildlife tourism activities are conducted in Chinnar (Head quarters of the sanctuary) and Alapatty (south zone) controlled and carried out by Eco-development committees of the respective areas. Both the places are well connected by road. Trained Tribal guards and naturalists from two tribal villages of Malapulayas living inside sanctuary , are guiding  the tourists.

Nature Trails & Trekking

Anybody can walk in for a day hike without prior booking between 7 am and 4pm. The EDC office working in each of these places offers trekking programme guided by tribal guards. Though they are good nature guides, it is difficult for other language speaking people to communicate with them. The guides are very best in spotting wildlife and birds. Trekking in Chinnar range offers good sighting of wildlife, especially elephants in close quarters.   

Alapatty range offers nature trails to Thoovanam Waterfalls and Cave arts sites. Each of these trek are separate and cannot do it in single entry. Thoovanam water fall is located about 5kms from Alampatty base station. The trekking to this area needed minimum level of physical fitness.

Trek to the cave arts and Megalithic site is a medium trek, though it is in undulated track. The scenic wonders of the landscape of Chinnar can be best sighted from this point. The paintings are marvelous, with Mesolithic antiquity. The trail contains a dolmen site and a sacred grove dedicated to Sapthamatrikas. The trails of Alapatty is potential in wildlife and birds during season.