Mukurthi Peak is one of the highest peaks in the Western Ghats, situated on the border of

Udagamandalam Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located northwest of Coimbatore, and is the headquarters of N ...

taluk, Nilgiris,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Nilambur Nilambur () is a major town, a municipality and a Taluk in the Malappuram district of the Indian state of Kerala. It is located close to the Nilgiri Mountains, Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats on the banks of the Chaliyar River. This place is ...

taluk,

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a municipality and town in Kerala and the headquarters of the Malappuram district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Kerala, 4th largest urban agglomeration in Kerala and ...

, and

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. It reaches an altitude of 2,554 m (8,379ft), and is the fifth-highest peak in South India.

Geography

The western slope of the hill sits astride the Kerala/Tamil Nadu border. It has many cliffs ranging from 500 m to 2,500 m. Part of Mukurthi is situated within Malappuram district, which is the third-highest point in Kerala, after

Anaimudi 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 , ...

(2,696 m) and Meeshapulimala (2,651 m). The peak can only be accessed through Nilgiri district. The Mukurthi peak is said to resemble a "pointed nose." Mukurthi peak is part of

Mukurthi National Park Mukurthi National Park is a national park in the western Nilgiris mountains of Tamil Nadu in South India. It was created to protect its keystone species, the Nilgiri tahr. It is part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India's first International ...

(Nilgiri Tahr National Park), in the

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Western Ghats in South India. It is the largest protected forest area in India, spreading across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. It includes the protected ...

. Mukurthi is covered with

shola A shola is the local name for a patch of stunted Montane grasslands and shrublands, tropical montane forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India, largely in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. These ...

(patches of stunted tropical montane forest (found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India), including pine, grasslands and shrublands. Its habitat is favorable for

Asian elephants The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living elephantid in the world. It is characterised by ...

, tigers, and

Nilgiri Tahr The Nilgiri tahr (''Nilgiritragus hylocrius'') is an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western and Eastern Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the only species in th ...

. Mukurthi National Park is situated between the

Mudumalai National Park Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It covers at an elevation range of in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. A part of this a ...

and the

Silent Valley National Park Silent Valley National Park is a national park in Kerala, India. It is located in the Nilgiri hills and has a core area of . It is surrounded by a buffer zone of . This national park has some rare species of flora and fauna. Silent Valley Natio ...

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

is the nearest town (30 km away). Pichalbetta (2,544 m) and Nilgiri hill are the most prominent peaks adjacent to this area, and Mukurthi Dam is also nearby.

Surroundings

Many streams drain into

Bhavani River The Bhavani is an interstate Indian river which flows through Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India. It originates from the Western Ghats and is one among the three rivers of Kerala which flows in eastward direction. Hydrography Bhavan ...

. Among the peaks inside the National Park, the highest are Kolaribetta (2,630m), together with Mukurthi Peak (2,556m) and Nilgiri Peak (2,477m. Southwest of Mukurthi lies

, and to its west the land falls steeply to 2,000 m in the Amarabalam Forest. The area under monoculture forestry in Mukurthi is comparatively less than Nilgiris district, and consists mainly of ''

Acacia mearnsii ''Acacia mearnsii'', commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is Endemism, endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, Glo ...

'', ''Eucalyptus'' ''globulus'' and ''

Pinus patula ''Pinus patula'', commonly known as patula pine, spreading-leaved pine, or Mexican weeping pine, and in Spanish as ''pino patula'' or ''pino llorón'', (''patula'' Latin = "spreading") is a tree native to the highlands of Mexico. It grows from ...

''. The vegetation is either Southern Montane Wet Temperate Forest (shola), grassland and plantation. Pristine shola patches can be seen throughout the park, generally at the heads of streams in the folds of converging slopes. These forests support a variety of flora and fauna. This IBA site is among the richest regions of plant biodiversity, with many endemic orchids and other plant groups. Grasslands in Mukurthi are common and form a mosaic with shola. They are a mixture of ''Chrysopogon'', ''Ischaemum'', ''Dicanthium'', ''Andropogon'', Eragrostis and ''Panicum'' species. The ecological status of these grasslands is debated.

Wildlife

Mukurthi hosts many species of wildlife: * Nilgiris tahr *

Sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...

Barking deer Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

* Nilgiris marten *

Otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

Jungle Cat The jungle cat (''Felis chaus''), also called reed cat and swamp cat, is a medium-sized cat native from the Eastern Mediterranean region and the Caucasus to parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. It inhabits foremost wetlands like swamps, ...

Jackal Jackals are Canidae, canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe Canina (subtribe), canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-b ...

* Laughing thrushes * Whistling thrushes *

Woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of sandpipers in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

* Wood pigeon *

Black eagle The black eagle (''Ictinaetus malaiensis'') is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus ''Ictinaetus''. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical and subtropical South a ...

* Blue Admiral * Indian Red Admiral * Indian Cabbage white

References

Mountains of the Western Ghats Two-thousanders of Asia {{TamilNadu-geo-stub