Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary lies in Idukki district, in the rain shadow of the southern Western Ghats, where only about 500 mm of rain falls a year. It adjoins Eravikulam National Park to the south and forms part of a large belt of protected forest in the Anaimalai Hills that straddles the state border with Tamil Nadu. The Munnar-Udumalpet road runs through it for 16 km, and the land climbs from 400 metres on the Chinnar River to 2,522 metres at Kumarikkal Mala.

The landscape shifts from thorny scrub and dry deciduous forest in the east to grassland and shola higher up, and the Marayoor sandalwood forest lies within it. Chinnar runs the country's sole rehabilitation centre for star tortoises and has Kerala's largest population of mugger crocodiles. Elephants, gaur, leopards, Nilgiri tahr and the grizzled giant squirrel are among 28 mammal species, alongside 225 birds and 156 butterflies. Eleven tribal settlements of Muthuvas and Pulayars lie inside.