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Periyar Tiger Reserve
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Periyar Tiger Reserve is one of the 27 tiger reserves in India and is located in the Western Ghats in Idukki District of the Kerala state in India. The terrain of the Reserve is undulating and the drainage is dendrite. North-eastern boundary of the Reserve is a ridge, which also forms boundary between Kerala and Tamil Nadu states for 90 km. Public attention was drawn to this place when Col. J. Pennycuick, designed the Mullaperiyar dam in this region in 1895 submerging virgin forests, resulting in the Thekkady lake.

At that time this was considered a small price to pay to water the croplands in Tamil Nadu. Seeing the damage done to the forest and the trauma caused to wildlife, the Maharaja of Travancore in the year 1899 decided to protect all the adjoining forests to the extent of around 600 sq. km. He named the protected area Nellikkampatty and this was finally declared a Sanctuary in 1934, at his initiative. It was later re-notified as Periyar Tiger Reserve. Periyar is a protected area and a nature reserve set high in the mountains of the Western Ghats at the border to Tamil Nadu. The park is often called by the name Thekkady also.

Gavi

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Gavi lying close to Downton Estate and part of the Periyar Reserve lately caught the attention of international tourists. These forests are on the other side of the famous pilgrim destination Sabarimala and on a clear day one can easily spot the temple with its golden mast and the 18 steps to the sanctum from quite a few locations on the jungle road to Gavi. When millions of pilgrims throng the forest trail on the other side during December to January, the rain forests on this side offer a safe sanctuary to the wild life.

Kerala Forest Development Corporation operates day-treks in the deep forests of Meenar, Pullumedu and Gavi. Tamil refugees from Srilanka were resettled in the cardamom plantation of the Kerala Forest Development Corporation. While most of the original re-settlers are working in the government owned plantation, the youngsters are engaged in the eco tourism initiative as guides, cooks and gardeners.

Animals & Birds
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Altogether 62 different kinds of mammals have been recorded in Periyar, including many threatened ones. There are an estimated 24 tigers in the reserve.  Tourists also come here to view the Indian elephants in the act of ablution and playfulness by the Periyar lake. The elephant number around 900 to 1000 individuals. Other mammals found here include gaur, sambar (horse deer), barking deer, mouse deer, Dholes (Indian wild dogs), mongoose, foxes and leopards. Also inhabiting the park, though rarely seen, are the elusive Nilgiri tahr.Four species of primates are found at Periyar - the rare lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri Langur, the common langur, and the Bonnet Macaque. So far 320 birds of different kinds have been counted in Periyar. The bird life includes darters, cormorants, kingfishers, the great Malabar hornbill and racket-tailed Drongos.