KALAKAD–MUNDANTHURAI TIGER RESERVE

Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), once largely a reserve forest, became a Tiger Reserve in 1988. This Reserve at the southern end of the Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot, is a veritable home of ecological and biological diversity. It has about 150 localized plant endemics, and 33 fish, 37 amphibian, 81 reptile, 273 bird and 77 mammal species. KMTR also protects the catchment of numerous rivers, which supports the agricultural economy of three adjacent districts. This fascinating Reserve, and the unparalleled encouragement from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, has over the decades attracted numerous biologists, who have studied in detail various species of the Reserve. The Reserve has enormous potential for future research and conservation of biodiversity and endangered species such as the tiger. Tiger conservation in the southern Western Ghats should have landscape-level planning and the suggested Megamalai–Kalakad Tiger Conservation Unit offers an ideal framework to turn this suggestion into a reality. KMTR is an excellent illustration of how research and management need to go hand in hand to achieve conservation objectives.

Conservation History Papanasam Reserved Forests and Singampatty Ex-zamindari Forests of Tirunelveli District were declared Tiger Sanctuary in 1962. The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 came into force in the state of Tamil Nadu in 1974. All the existing Sanctuaries were deemed sanctuaries under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. The entire Kalakad Reserved Forests was notified sanctuary in 1976. These Sanctuaries formed part of the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu, the seventeenth Tiger Reserve in the country, created in 1988-89. Initially, it comprised of two adjacent wildlife sanctuaries of Kalakad and Mundanthurai in district of Tirunelveli to which parts of Veerapuli and Kilamalai Reserve Forests (Approx. 77 sq. km.) of adjacent district Kanyakumari, were added in April 1996. The area of the Reserve is 895 sq. km. Kalakad Mundanthurai comprises of 665 sq. km. Reserved Forest. About 230 sq. km. of Singampatty Ex-zamindari Forest is not yet declared as Reserve Forest under Section 16 of Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882. The legal status of this forest is Reserve Land under the Act.  Census     Species 1997     Tiger   73   Leopard   79   Jungle Cat   1755   Wild Dog   1718   Elephant   N.A   Gaur   232   Sambar   1302   Chital   1966   Tahr   8780   Wild Pig   187   Mouse Deer   172   Sloth Bear   123   Lion tailed Macaque   37   Bonnet Macaque   61   Nilgiri langur   61   Bonnet Macaque   61   Common Langur   61   Slender loris   61   Giant Squirrel   61   Crocodile   61

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Courtallam

picturesque surroundings with the backdrops of cloud capped spurs of the western ghats lend an unusual charm to the falls. The rapturous scene of the falls gets heightened by the cool breeze that wafts during seasonal months (June to September) along with intermittent drizzle and sunlight. There are eight places where water pours down torrentially with varying velocity and force according to the height of the precipice. They are Main Falls, Five Falls, the Shenbhaga Falls, the Tiger Falls, old Courtallam Falls, Honey Falls, Orchard falls and Sitraruvi. It is an excellent health resort.

Visitors to this place like to have bath in these falls from dawn to dusk. One can have bath at anytime in a day and one would not get sneezing or cold as the water is said to possess medicinal qualities of the herbal plants grown in this mountain. Those suffering from rheumatic joints, chronic headache, nerve disorder get cured by a lengthy stay at Courtallam.