Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, just 20 Kms away is widely famous as Mudumalai National Park and has some interesting places to visit. This Sanctuary includes several bird species like Bulbul, Parrot and its flora consists of various trees such as shrub and swamp, moist mixed deciduous Sal, Teak, Moist teak forest, and Bamboo. It also serves as a dwelling place for animals like Rhinoceros, Elephants, Jackals, Four-horned antelopes, Leopards, Chinkara, Black bucks and Jungle cats.
The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as Mudumalai National Park. It was established in 1940 for preserving varied flora and fauna. The national park was declared as a Tiger Reserve and functions on the guidelines listed under the Project Tiger.
It is situated on the north-western side of the Nilgiri Hills at an altitude ranging from 467 m to 1251 m. The reserve sprawls over an area of around 321 sq km. The Moyar River and Nilgiri River flow through the reserve.
The sanctuary received its name from the word ‘Mudumalai’ which means ‘situated on the first hill’. The five different ranges of this sanctuary are the Kargudi, Thepakadu, Masinagudi, Mudumalai and Nellakota. The tropical evergreen forest, shrub and swamp, moist teak forest, moist mixed deciduous, dry teak forest and secondary grassland form the topography of the sanctuary.
It provides shelter to the Asian elephant, tiger, leopard, gaur, hyena, jackal, sloth bear, sambar, chital, mouse deer, wild boar and stripe-necked mongoose. Resident as well as migrant birds like crested hawk eagles, Malabar trogon, Malabar grey-hornbill, black-woodpecker, falcon and the king vulture can be seen here. The sanctuary is home to numerous reptiles like crocodiles, pythons, common krait and bamboo pit snakes.
The museum in the forest has pictures of some animals which once lived in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. The Pykara Lake, Kallatty Falls and Moyar River are some of the other prominent attractions of the sanctuary.
Facilities Available
- Food available for purchase
- Bathroom facilities
- Camera/Video allowed
- Wearing of shoes/footwear allowed
- Lockers/Storage
Located just at 7 Kms from Masinagudi, this river runs from the forest and offers beautiful panoramic views to its visitors. If you are interested to see animals so please do not forget to visit here as many animals come here to drink water from this running river.