CHINNAR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

KUMAAR HOLIDAYS

No. 42, Chowdary Nagar Main Road,

Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600087

Cell: 78109 86933 / 78108 96933 / 93810 61000

E-mail: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com

Website: www.kumaarholidays.com

Chinnar is accessible from Kochi(208 km.) and Coimbatore (115 km.) airports along main roads.The Munnar-Udumalpet road that passes through the sanctuary divides it into more or less equal parts. Munnar,the major tourists center, is 60km.from chinnar. The nearest town is Marayur.A drive upto Chinnar,  sixty  km away from Munnar on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, is an experience by itself. This notable wildlife sanctuary of Southern India covers an area over ninety  square kilometers.

Landscape and Climate :

The terrain is highly undulating with altitudes ranging from 500m.at Chinnar to over 2300m.at Nandala malai. The area is drained by two perennial rivers namely Pambar and Chinnar. The sanctuary is situated in the rain shadow region of the Western Ghats, getting rains mostly during the north-east monsoons (October-December). The average annual rainfall is 500mm.The plains are generally hot but the higher altitudes are cool.

Western Ghats of Kerala is a unique range of evergreen forests, glades and mountains. The Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is one among the many attractions of the Westen Ghats. Lying in a rain-shadow region , Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a innumerable varieties  of plants and animals. Apart The bewildering variation in altitude and rainfall unique to this stretch of Western Ghats ensures a wide array of habitat types like deciduous forests, dry thorny forest, riparian types, sholas and grasslands that are interspersed with plains, hillocks, rocks and cliffs which further provide microhabitats for even more varied fauna and flora. Elephants, leopards and bears are found here, among others.

Entry to the sanctuary is restricted and needs the permission of Wildlife Warden, Idukki Wild Division, Painau Wildlife DFO, Munnar. All the Ecotourism activities are organised jointly by the Forest Department and the Ecodevelopment Committees (EDCs) of the local tribal communities.The activities are designed to offer a wide spectrum of wilderness opportunities to the visitors and to provide means of sustainable livelihood for local communities.

Ecotourism facilities include:

• River trekking.
• Trekking to the cultural site(dolmens)
• Nature trail to the watch tower.
• Trek to Thoovanam falls.
• Interpretation activities and medicinal Garden.
• Tree house at Chinnar.
• Machans at Koottar,Karakkad and Champakkad.
• Trekking and camping at Vasyappara.

 Entry Fee

Entry fee for Indians	Rs. 10/- per head per day
Entry fee for foreigners	Rs. 100/- per head per day
Entry fee for children below 12 years and bonafied students on tour	Rs. 5/- per head per day
Fee for video and movie cameras	Rs. 150/- day
Fee for ordinary cameras	Rs. 25/- per day
Entry fee for vehicles
Heavy vehicles	Rs. 150/- day
Light vehicles	Rs. 50/- per day
Others	Rs. Rs. 20/- per day

Due to the significant variation in altitude and rainfall, Chinnar has a wide array of habitat types like deciduous forests, dry thorn scrub, riparian forests, shoals and grassland.It has about 1000 species of flowering plants and is a well known respository of medicinal plants.There are 114 endemics and Aibizia lathamii,a critically endangered tree has been recently reported from the dry frosts. Chinnar has recorded the largest number of reptilian fauna in Kerala including the mugger crocodile. With 225 recorded species of birds,it is one of the richest areas of south India in avian diversity.The riverine forests support a healthy population of the endangered Grizzled Giant Squirrel, the pride of Chinnar.The famous and extremely rare white bison has been recently reported.Other important mammals found are elephant, tiger, leopard, guar, sambar, spotted deer, Nilgiri tar, common langur, bonnet macaque etc.The phenomenon of butterfly migration occurs in between the monsoons.

Tribal Communities:

Two groups of tribes, Muthuvans and Hill Pulayas, inhabit the sanctuary in 11 hamlets or kudies.The life world of the two tribal communities are very different. The Sanctuary provides the livelihood options for the tribes and helps in maintaining their cultural heritage. Archeologically significant megalithic burial sites consisting of dolmens and cysts are found near some settlements. Being inside the Sanctuary, these 11 settlements have significant impact on the forests around them and vice versa. With the launching of the Ecodevelopment programme, successful efforts have been made for evolving a model of biodiversity conservation in a human dominated landscape. The focus of the programme is to minimize the impact of local tribel communities on the Sanctuary by involving them in its management and providing alternate means of income generation.

 

It Takes Nothing Away From A Human

To Be Kind To An Animal

 

KUMAAR HOLIDAYS

No. 42, Chowdary Nagar Main Road,

Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600087

Cell: 78109 86933 / 78108 96933 / 93810 61000

E-mail: kumaarholidays1@gmail.com

Website: www.kumaarholidays.com