Silent Valley National Park – Palakkad District, Kerala
The former name of the
park is Sairandhrivanam. The park which
surrounded with Attappadi Reserve Forests in the east, and vested
forests of the Palakkad and Nilambur divisions in the west and south. In the
North, the park is an extension of the Nilgiri Forests. Silent Valley gets copious amounts of rainfall during
the monsoons, . In general the rainfall is higher at higher altitude and
decreases from the west to east due to the rain shadow effect. Eighty per cent of the rainfall occurs during the
south-west monsoon between June and September. It also receives significant
amount of rainfall during the north-east monsoon between October and November.
The fauna here includes around
100 species of butterflies, 400 species of moths, Ceylon Frogmouth, Great
Indian Hornbill, the Nilgiri Laughing Thrush, the giant Malabar squirrel,
Nilgiri langur, the lion-tailed Macaque, elephant, tiger, leopard, wild bear,
nilgai, sambar, pit viper etc. The parks best known primates, the Nilgiri
Langur and Lion- tailed macaque are both listed in IUCN's Red List of
Threatened Animals. There are very old trees in the park including a huge
hollow tree which can hide at least 12 people in it.
Thanks for sharing these lovely pictures. The National Park has an area of just 89.52 sq km. You are allowed up to Sairandhiri, 23 km from Mukkali entry point. The watchtower here offers lovely views of the mountains. You can explore a trail leading down to the Kunthi River. See birds, the giant squirrel, the endangered lion-tailed macaque and Nilgiri langur. Explore more about Silent Valley National Park.
ReplyDelete