Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park

Great Indian Hornbill

The Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, the largest and well preserved sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, lies in the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap, better known as Anaimalais (Mountain of Elephants). With an area of 958 sq.KM, it is rich in flora and fauna.This protected area constitutes the most important watershed for the agricultural economy and power supply. Major reservoirs like Parambikulam, Aliyar, Thirumurthi, Upper Aliyar, Kadambarai, Sholayar and Amaravathi are fed by the perennial rivers which originate from the Sanctuary.



The tribal communities living in the sanctuary are Kadar, Malasar, Malai Malasar, Muduvar, Pulayar and Eravalar. They participate in the management as Forest watchers and Antipoaching Watchers.

Origin

The park is named after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who visited the park on October 7, 1961. It is often called "Topslip", a village in the northeast corner of the park which is the main visitor center. This name is derived from the local 19th century practice of sliding Teak timber logs down the hills from here.

History

By the mid 1800s, large tracts of Valparai Plateau in the Anamalais were under intense tea or coffee plantations after deforestation of the natural forests. By 1866 two-thirds of the plantations were owned by Europeans and the remaining by Indians from coastal towns. Since most native inhabitants either refused to work or were inefficient workers, labour for plantations was brought from the plains of Tamil Nadu to clear forests and grow coffee.

Some parts of the forest however were reserved for timber including large areas around Top Slip. This part of the Western Ghats, under the Bombay Presidency were exploited extensively for teak which was supplied to the Bombay Dockyard for shipbuilding and later for railroad ties.

In 1855, this area came under sustainable forest management for teak plantations by the pioneering efforts Douglas Hamilton and Dr. H. F. Cleghorn of the new Tamil Nadu Forest Department. In the early 1900s, protection of the Karian Sholas was also ensured.

The area was notified as Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary in 1974. of its unique habitats at 3 places - Karian Shola, Grass hills, Manjampatti Valley were notified as a National Park in 1989. The 108 square kilometres (42 sq miles) National Park is the core area of the 958 square kilometres (370 sq miles) Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. IGWS was declared a Project Tiger tiger reserve in 2008.

The Park and the Sanctuary is under consideration by UNESCO as part of The Western Ghats World Heritage site. The Sanctuary and the Palni Hills in Dindigul District form the Anaimalai Conservation Area.

Location

Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP) is a protected area located in the Anaimalai Hills of Pollachi, Valparai and Udumalpet taluks of Coimbatore District and Tirupur District, Tamilnadu state, South India.

Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park lies between 10.13’-10.33’ N and 76.49’ – 77.21’ E

It was notified as a sanctuary in the year 1974. 108 sq.kms of its unique habitats at 3 places - Karian Shola, Grass hills, Manjampatty were notified as National Parks in 1989.

Flora

The Anamalais rise from foothills at the height of 300 m to Topslip-Parambikulam Plateau at 800m and to the Valparai Plateau, between 1000 and 1250 m. The elevation range includes an array of habitats ranging from dry thorn forests in the low foothills to semi-evergreen stretches to grass hills and evergreen shoals in Valparai.
Forest types in this Reserve are:

• Tropical wet evergreen forest.
• Southern tropical moist deciduous forest
• Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest
• Southern Montane Wet Temperate Forest
• Southern tropical thorn Forest
• Dry Savannah Forest
• Southern Bamboo Forest
• Reeds.

The floral diversity has been estimated to be over 2000 species, of which about 400 species are of medicinal importance. The Karian Shola NP has been identified and designated as a Medicinal Plant Conservation Area (MPCA) due to its medicinal plant diversity.
Apart from its rich tree diversity, over 100 species of orchids, a wide variety of ferns, grasses, palms and canes abode here.

Fauna

Shola Forest

Orchild

The sanctuary supports extremely diverse faunal population and several species are exclusive to this area. A wide variety of herbivores inhabit this Sanctuary including elephant, gaur, Sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, mouse deer, nilgiri tahr and wild boar. This is equally matched by carnivore diversity with Tiger, Leopard, Wild Dog (Dhole), Indian Fox, Leopard-cat and Jungle cat. Primates are represented by bonnet macaque, common langur, nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque and slender loris. Other important mammals include the Sloth Bear, Small Indian civet, Toddy cat, Ruddy mongoose, Stripped-necked mongoose, Common Otter, Smooth Indian Otter, Nilgiri marten, Indian Flying fox squirrel, Indian Giant Squirrel, Dusky stripped squirrel, Flying squirrel, Black naped Indian Hare, Bandicoot Rat, Grey musk shrew, Indian Porcupine, Indian Pangolin.

The Sanctuary is a birders’ paradise. Over 300 species of birds have been sighted. Apart from the Great Pied Hornbil-the flagship species, rare birds like the Frogmouth, Red-winged crested cuckoo are found here. Birds of prey like Crested Serpent Eagle, Spot-billied Eagle , Black Eagle, Crested Gohawk, Rufous bellied Eagle, Jerdon’s Baza, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Owl. Grey Jungle fowl, Painted Bush quail, Red Spurfowl, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, White-bellied Woodpecker, Alpine Swift, Brown-backed Needletail, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Dollar bird, Malabar Trogon, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Blue-bearded Bee eater, White bellied Treepie, White-bellied Shortwing, Wynad Laughingthrush, Hill Myna, Nilgir Flycatcher. Many species of flycatchers, Drongos, Treepies, Birds of prey, Thrushes, Warblers, Babblers, woodpeckers, Parakeets, Pigeons, Shrikes, Cuckoos, Swifts and Owls are also found here.
Shortwing, Wynad Laughingthrush, Hill Myna, Nilgir Flycatcher. Many species of flycatchers, Drongos, Treepies, Birds of prey, Thrushes, Warblers, Babblers, woodpeckers, Parakeets, Pigeons, Shrikes, Cuckoos, Swifts and Owls are also found here.

Tourist info

The Sanctuary is highly diverse in its topography, altitude, rainfall, climate and temperature. Therefore, it naturally supports a wide variety of flora and fauna including several rare, endemic and endangered species of plants and animals. Diversity of landscape and its components enchants one and all alike be he a tourist, a trekker, an anthropologist, a wildlifer or a naturalist.

Best time to Visit

Moderate warm climate almost through the year makes it attractive destination throughout the year but the best time to visit would be December to April.

Weather

The mercury ranges from 14oC – 32oC during March to October and to 6oC-24oC during November to February.Torists may avoid rainy months.

Travel

	Bus services is available frequently from Pollachi to Topslip 35Km
	Nearest Railway Station is in Pollachi – 35 kms away.
	Nearest Airport is Coimbatore – 87 kms.away.

Places of Interest

Topslip is the place of first choice to most of the tourists. Ample accommodation, vehicle ride, elephant ride and regulated nature walk are provided. Adjacent Karianshola a tropical rain forest with tall rising trees and well-developed canopy forest is for serious visitors. Medicinal Plants Conservation area (MPCA) and interpretation centre here cannot be missed. In the west, it connects with Kerala’s Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary and a joint visit would give a taste of varied landscape and lot of surprises.
Elephant camp at Chinnar is 25 KM from Topslip. Grassy swamps and teak plantations and the Seychalli valley are other interesting spots.

Valparai is one of the highest mid elevation hill resort in the country. The tea plantations are surrounded by evergreen moist deciduous forest a rich elephant tract and a panther prowl.

Grasshills can be reached conventionally through pollachi over the Attakatti ghat or from topslip via vargaliar and manompally. The shoals and grass lands which are continuous with the grass lands till Konalar hut and a briddle path connects the grass hills of the Eravikulam National Park in Munnar district. Rhododenron, Kurinji are popular in this tract. Tiger, panther, Elephant Nilgiri Tahr and many other wildlife are found to be peacefully existing in this area. The grass hills road ends at Konalar, a small mountain stream across which the Konalar hut is located.

The Crocodile farm at Amaravathi dam is one of the four major crocodile farms in the country and is a popular destination. The crocodile farm is also the home of grizzled squirrels with many nests located on trees within the farm. The forests around are ideal elephant tracts.

Monkey falls located at the 29th km junction on the Pollachi-valparai road, is the place for a refreshing bath from the natural falls

Attakatti is about 36 km. on the pollachi Valparai state highway.A well maintained trekking shed is available near Attakatti. The area is an ideal dry deciduous and moist deciduous forest tract and home of wildlife like Elephant, Tiger, Nilgiri Tahr, Sambar etc.

Monompally is about 85 km from Pollachi and about 20 km from valparai has a beautiful trekking shed close to Manompally river. The place is known for its thick shola forests, fast flowing rivers and scenic beauty.

Manjapatty valley is a unique elephant country. The Dhallinji and Manjampatti tribal settlements are within this area.

Thirumurthy hills , about 25 km from Udumalpet, is famous for the Panchalingam water falls. The place has many tribal settlements around and has rich moist & dry deciduous forests.

Chinnar is situated at about 25 km from Amaravathi. Elephants are very common here. Deers and Bisons are also seen in large numbers. It has abundant population of Elephants, Grizzled Squirrels, wide variety of small mammals, birds and reptiles. Tigers are a common sight for visitors on this road.

Trekkers delight

Several interesting trek routes are avaialable and regular guided treks are conducted during favourable season. Prior notice of a fortnight is necessary.Some of enchanting trek routes are

• Top Slip-Karianshola-Pandaravarai-Topslip trek of 12 kms takes 5 hrs. It is best done during September – March. It is a trek for animal and bird watching. There will be no need for camping enroute.
• Akkamalai-Thanakka malai-konal Ar- Fishing hut – Akkamalai. Moderate to steep climb to a distance of 10 kms and climbing down for 20 kms takes 7 hrs. during june. The route passes through vast stretches of rolling meadows with evergreen shoals. Herds of Nilgiri Tahr a mountain goat are found.Fishing hut at Konalar is an exciting camp site.
• Elumalaiyan Odai-Kamanuthu pungan odai-udumalpet moonar road. A steep climb for two kms and gentle undulating ground for 7 kms.takes 3 hrs. done during December- June. Panther, Gaur, Sambar, Deer, Elephant, Tiger and a variety of birds are sighted. Observation tower at Kamanuthu provision for halt at Amaravathi.
• Monkey falls - a linear stretch of evergreen forests is surrounded by rocky cliffs.
• Varagaliar – Kurampalliar and Varagaliar shola– Perrunkundru Malai- back - a 14 KM stiff climb taking 7 hrs, is best done during September- March. A It takes one through a stretch of lower elevation, shola supports large number of arboreal animals especially primates (Lion Tailed Macaque and Nilgiri Langur). Nilgiri Tahr and Indian Hornbill can be sighted. Forest Rest House at Varagaliar will be the camping site.

Accommodation

Comfortable accommodation is available at Topslip on prior booking at the reception center in the office of the Wildlife Warden, Pollachi. There are cottages and group accommodation facilities available at Topslip to suit different budgets. Catering facility is available at Topslip.Bookings are done at Office of the Wildlife Warden, Pollachi.

Contact:

The Wildlife Warden,
Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary & National Park,
176, Meenkarai Road,Pollachi,
Coimbatore 642001,Tamil Nadu.
Tel. (04259) 25356