Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
Best time to visit :
December to April
Nearest Airport : Mysore and Bangalore (250km)
Nearest Railway Station : Kozhikode (110 km)
Nearest Town : Sultan’s Battery (1km)
¤ The Vegetatiion
 A
tract of cultivated land bisects the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
into two distinct parts. One falls in the Kozhikode District and the
other in the Kannur District. The cultivated strip is the result of
years of persistent human encroachment, and rather sticks out from
this otherwise billowy marshy landscape, sprinkled with gurgling
rivers and streams. Wayanad literally means the ‘land of swamps’.
The sanctuary has excellent moist deciduous teak forests and marshes
dominated by bamboo and other grasses. These forests are also said to
be amongst the most extensively forested belts in the Indian
Peninsula.
¤ Wildlife Attractions
The sanctuary has a rich bird life. The tiger, gaur, leopard, jackal,
wild dog, Indian fox and jackal, constitute some of the fauna in the
sanctuary. Elephants, sloth bears, chitals, and sambars can be spotted
more commonly.
The sanctuary was a game reserve since the early 1920’s, and was
established as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1973. Extensive human
encroachment, poaching, and the resettlement plans along with other
consequences of the neighbouring Kabini Hydroelectric Project, pose
some serious threats to the Wayanad Sanctuary.
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