Parambikulam Tiger Reserve

April 6, 2023

Recently, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court ordered that the wild elephant Arikompan roaming at Santhanpara and Chinnakkanal in Idukki district be captured, radio-collared, and translocated to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.

About Parambikulam Tiger Reserve:

  • It is one of the premier Tiger Reserves of India and is endowed by nature in terms of species, habitat and ecosystem diversity.
  • It is located in the Palakkad District of Kerala and lies in between the Anamalai Hills and Nelliampathy Hills of the Southern Western Ghats.
  • Flora: It supports diverse habitat types namely; evergreen forests, moist and dry deciduous forests and grasslands.
  • Fauna: Lion-tailed macaques, Malabar giant squirrel and Flying squirrel, Tarantula (large-bodied spiders) etc.
  • There are several endemic, rare, endangered and threatened (RET) species of flora and fauna adding to the diversity of the Reserve. To name a few,
    • Coscinium fenestratum and Utleria salicifolia (the IUCN ‘red listed’ medicinal plants endemic to Anamalais)
    • Tomopterna parambikulamana (an endemic frog of Parambikulam)
    • Garra surendranathanii (an endemic sucker fish)