Wildlife sanctuary near Nilambur, Malappuram district
Karimpuzha Wildlife Sanctuary is a Wildlife sanctuary near Nilambur, Malappuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is declared as a wildlife sanctuary on 3 July 2020. It covers an area of 227.97 km2 and comprises the New Amarambalam Reserved Forest and Vadakkekotta vested forest, except the Manjeri colony of the Cholanaikar tribe.[1] It forms a portion of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
Ecological significance
The Karimpuzha WLS links the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala and Mukurthi National Park in Tamil Nadu and thereby create a contiguous protective area stretch.[2] It also borders the Mukkuruthi National Park in the south and the Silent Valley National Park buffer zone in the northeast.[1] Also, the New Amarambalam reserve which is part of the Karimpuzha wildlife sanctuary has one of the most pristine forests untouched by humans.[2]
The landscape of the wildlife sanctuary ranges from 40m to 2,654m above sea level and hence have a huge altitudinal gradient. The Karimpuzha sanctuary is also the only forest stretch in Kerala where seven forest types are all present- Semi-evergreen forest, Evergreen rainforest, moist deciduous forest, sub-tropical savannah, sub-tropical hill forest, montane wet temperate forest and montane wet grasslands.[2]
Fauna
The Karimpuzha wildlife sanctuary has almost all the mammals endemic to Western Ghats including the Nilgiri Tahr and Lion-tailed macaque. The wildlife sanctuary is home to 226 bird, 213 butterfly species,[2] 23 species amphibian species, 33 reptile species and several endangered fish species.[1]
