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Eravikulam National Park is a 97 km2
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki and
Ernakulam district Ernakulam (; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'') is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, and takes its name from the Ernakulam, eponymous city division in Kochi. ...
s of
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
in India. The park is situated between 10º05'N and 10º20' north, and 77º0' and 77º10' east and is the first national park in Kerala. It was established in 1978. Eravikulam National Park is administered by the Kerala Department of Forests and Wildlife,
Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...
Wildlife Division, which also runs the nearby Mathikettan Shola National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park, Pambadum Shola National Park,
Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary is located 18 km north of Marayoor on State Highway 17 (Tamil Nadu - Kerala, India), State Highway 17 in the Marayoor and Kanthalloor panchayats of Devikulam taluk in the Idukki district of India's Kerala state. ...
and the Kurinjimala Sanctuary.


Geography

The main body of the park consists of a high rolling hill
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
with a base elevation of about 2,000 m. The
terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...
consists of high altitude
grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
s interspersed with sholas.
Anamudi Anamudi ("Elephant head", ) is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India. With a topographic prominence of ...
, at 2,695 meters the highest peak in South India, is inside the park. Many perennial streams criss-cross the park. They merge to form tributaries of the Periyar river in the west and of the Cauvery River in the east. The National Park is bordered by the dense Pooyamkutty and Idamalayar forests to the north-west. Lakkom Water falls is in this region.


Fauna

Twenty-six species of
mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...
have been recorded in the park, including the largest regional population of Nilgiri tahr (''Nilgiritragus hylocrius''), a rare
highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with Hoof, hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined ...
related to
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and
goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...
, estimated at 750 individuals. Other local mammal species include chital, Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaques, gaur, red muntjac,
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
and sambar. Golden jackals and dhole are the top canine predators, while jungle cats, Indian leopard and
Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...
are the top felines. Some of the smaller mammals include
rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
, mustelids and viverrids, such as the dusky palm squirrel, Indian crested porcupine, ruddy,
brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...
,
grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...
and stripe-necked mongooses, Nilgiri marten and Asian small-clawed otter. Indian elephants make seasonal visits. 132 species of birds have been recorded, including endemics like the
black-and-orange flycatcher The black-and-orange flycatcher (''Ficedula nigrorufa'') or black-and-rufous flycatcher is a species of Old World flycatcher, flycatcher endemic to the central and southern Western Ghats, the Nilgiris (mountains), Nilgiris and Palni Hills, Palni ...
, Nilgiri pipit, Nilgiri wood pigeon, Nilgiri blue robin, Nilgiri flycatcher and Palani laughingthrush. Endemic butterflies (largely confined to the shola grassland ecosystem) include the red disk bushbrown and Palani fourring, among 101 total Lepidopteran species in the park. Other montane species include ''Colias'' ''nilagiriensis'', and the endemic '' Heteropsis davisoni''. 19 species of
amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
s have been recorded in the park.


New species of frog found

In 2010, a new bright-reddish-orange frog, with multiple glands and extremely short limbs, was discovered in Eravikulam National Park. The newly discovered species was said to be, apparently, restricted to less than 3 km2 on the peak of
Anamudi Anamudi ("Elephant head", ) is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India. With a topographic prominence of ...
, thus being deserving of immediate conservation priority, as reported by scientists S.D. Biju of
Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
and Franky Bossuyt of the Free University of Brussels in '' Current Science''. The frog has been assigned the name '' Raorchestes resplendens''. This frog, as compared to all other members of the genus, has multiple prominent glandular swellings: laterally behind the eyes, on the side of the dorsum, on the anterior side of the vent, on the dorsal side of the forearms and shanks, and on the posterior side of tarsus and metatarsus. Additional distinguishing characteristics include the colour of the iris (which is bright red) and its extremely short legs. The genus '' Raorchestes'' (bush-frogs) is well represented in the park and surrounding area, with species including Beddome's bushfrog ( ''R. bedomii''), the Travancore bushfrog ('' R. travancoricus''), green-eyed bushfrog ( ''R. chlorosomma'') and the Munnar bushfrog ('' R. munnarensis'').


Flora

Three major types of plant communities are found in the park – grasslands, shrublands and forests. The terrain above 2000m is covered, primarily, by grasslands, but there are numerous smaller patches of forest in various hollows and gullies. The deeper valleys are extensively forested. Shrublands predominate along the bases of the cliffs, and are likewise interspersed in rocky areas. The antibacterial '' Eupatorium glandulosum'' is found here. As this is primarily
montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
vegetation, many small
mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ho ...
and
lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
are also found here.


History

Prior to 1971, the area was managed as a game preserve by the Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company. The government of Kerala resumed control in 1971 (Kannan Devan Hill Produce (Resumption of lands) Act, 1971), and declared the Eravikulam- Rajamala Wildlife Sanctuary in 1975 to protect the habitat of the endangered Nilgiri tahr. It became a National Park in 1978."Management Plan", Erivikulam National Park. Accessed 3 August 2014


Gallery

File:eravikulam 1.jpg, Trekking route in Eravikulam National Park File:View of Munnar Mountains.jpg, View of the Munnar Mountains from the top of Eravikulam National Park File:Nilgiri Tahr Eravikulam National Park Munnar.jpg, Nilgiri Tahr – Eravikulam National Park File:Anamudi from Munnar Gundumalai road.jpg, Anamudi, on the right, in the Eravikulam National Park File:Naikolli Mala near Anamudi.jpg, Naikolli Mala, near
Anamudi Anamudi ("Elephant head", ) is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India. With a topographic prominence of ...
from Eravikulam National Park


See also

* List of birds of South India *
Anamudi Anamudi ("Elephant head", ) is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. With an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India. With a topographic prominence of ...
*
Munnar Munnar () is a town located in the Idukki district of the southwestern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. This ancient plantat ...


References


External links

{{Authority control National parks in Kerala Protected areas established in 1978 South Western Ghats montane rain forests Tourist attractions in Idukki district Geography of Idukki district 1978 establishments in Kerala Protected areas of Kerala