Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi and Periyar: Kerala's four Elephant Reserves

Background

Elephant Reserves are designated areas set up by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in collaboration with State Forest Departments. Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi and Periyar are the four Elephant Reserves in Kerala. The Wayanad reserve covers Wayanad, Kannur and Kozhikode districts; Nilambur covers Malappuram, Kozhikode and Palakkad. Anamudi covers Thrissur, Palakkad, Ernakulam and Idukki, and Periyar covers Idukki, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram. Periyar is the largest of the four with an extent of 3742 sq.km and Wayanad the smallest at 1200 sq.km. A reserve is notified after approval from a steering committee chaired by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. Across India 33 Elephant Reserves are operational in 14 major elephant range states, covering 80,777.778 square kilometers, and 150 elephant corridors have been identified and validated across 15 states.