Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

The Silent Valley National Park is located in the Kundali Hills in Kerala, along the hill ranges known as the Western Ghats. The Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is considered to be the last pristine region of tropical evergreen forest in India and is an area rich in biodiversity. The lush tropical greenery, undulating slopes, hills and rivers make the Silent Valley National Park a beautiful wildlife tourism destination in Kerala, India. The park is also known for the rare and unique herbs and plants that grow here, as well as the wildlife found in the Silent Valley, which include elephants, tigers and lion-tailed macaques.

Location

Situated in the Palakkad district of Kerala, the Silent Valley National Park is adjacent to the Attappadi Reserve Forests to the East, the Palghat and Nilambur forest divisions in the West and South and the Nilgiri Forests in the North. This biodiversity hot spot is a unique treasure trove of rare flora and fauna. The Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary was threatened by the construction of a Hydel Power Project during the 1970's. Protests by environmentalists led to the renotification of Silent Valley as a National Park in 1984. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve with the Silent Valley National Park as its core area, was created in 1986.

Prime Attractions In Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is called Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley). There are four distinct types of vegetation in this biodiversity intensive area. The rain forest has moist tropical evergreen trees with teak, rosewood, amla, bamboo and semal. Apart from this there are tropical hill forests, temperate forests and grasslands. The wildlife in Silent Valley National Park includes elephants, tigers, leopards, wild boar, sambhar, gaur and the endangered lion-tailed macaque. There are also a number of snake, lizard and amphibian species in the Silent Valley National Park.

Around Silent Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

Not far from the Silent Valley National Park are the hill resort of Coonoor, the rapidly growing town of Coimbatore and a number of Kerala wildlife sanctuaries such as the Parambikulam sanctuary, the Attappadi or Mountain Valley, the Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary and the JP Smriti Vanam.

How To Reach There

By Rail : The nearest railway station is Palakkad, 75 kms.
By Air : Nearest airport is at Coimbatore, 55 kms.