Mudumalai National Park - Land of the ancients, 'Old Hills'

Land of the ancients, 'Old Hills' is what Mudumalai literally translates to. It is one of the first wildlife sanctuaries in the country and celebrated for its visual beauty. It is an important natural habitat for wildlife and numerous endangered species that comes under the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. To the North side, it is bound with Bandipur & Nagarhole National Parks of Karnataka and at its West is the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary of Kerala, to the South corner is the flourished Mukurthi and Silent Valley National Parks of Kerala. These parks, sanctuaries and the adjoining Reserve forests cover over 3300 sq kms of forest supporting a population around 2000 elephants. There are about 200 species of birds in the park, including White rumped vulture, Long billed vulture, Red crest, Mynas, Owls etc. Safaris into the National Park are conducted by Tamil Nadu Forest Department which is arranged by select resorts. Though the park can be visited throughout the year, it is better to avoid during monsoons (June to September) due to the wet climate which has the probability for the contagious infections to happen.