At a Glance
Area: 925 Sq. Km
Latitude:9017’ 56.04”-9037’10.2N.
Longitude:76056’ 12.12” – 770 25’ 5.52”E.

Boundaries
North: Peerumedu taluk
South: Pathanamthitta district
East: Theni, Thirunelveli & Ramnad District of Tamilnadu
West: Kottayam district

Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) is situated in the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the Southern Western Ghats of peninsular India. The major portion of the Reserve forms the catchment of the river Periyar and the rest that of river Pamba. Administratively, PTR falls in Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala state. The reserve is divided into two functional divisions, each managed by a Deputy Director. Periyar East is the larger division with an area of 707 sq.km and headquartered at Thekkady, where most of the tourism activities are centred. This Division is divided into three Ranges – Thekkady, Periyar and Vallakkadavu.

Periyar West division (218 sq.km) has its headquarters at Peermedu and is divided into two Ranges, Azhutha and Pamba. Each Range under a Range Officer is further divided into Sections and Beats, looked after by Foresters and Forest Guards respectively.

History

In 1895, the Periyar Lake was formed, after the Government of the erstwhile Travancore State permitted the Madras State to construct the Mullaperiyar Dam across Periyar River to provide irrigation facilities to Tamil Nadu. In the year 1899, the forests around the Lake with an extent of 600.88km2 were declared as Periyar Lake Reserve Forests – No. 39. Realizing the importance of game preservation, the Travancore State in 1933 appointed Mr. S.C.H. Robinson, a retired Land Commissioner as the Game Warden. On his recommendation, an area around the lake was declared as the Nellikkampetti Game Sanctuary in 1934 with the headquarters at Peermedu. In 1950 the Nellikampatti Game Sanctuary was expanded into Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary (777 Km2) by adding the adjoining forests of Rattendon Valley (12.95 Km2) and Mount Plateau (163.17 Km2) to the Periyar Lake Reserve.

Considering the importance of the sanctuary in respect of its tiger population, the area was brought under Project Tiger in 1978 as the 10th Tiger Reserve in India, and named as Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR). In 1982, an extent of 350.54 km2 was notified as Periyar National Park. In 1991 the area was included as part of Project Elephant Reserve No.10. The then Tiger Reserve had one territorial division with its headquarters at Thekkady. A functional division (about 50km2) namely ‘Grass Land Afforestation Division’ (GLAD), with an overlapping jurisdiction over the Tiger Reserve was also operating from Peermedu. The GLAD was established with the objective to raise pulp wood plantation. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India banned all sorts of extraction works without approved Management Plan/Working Plan in 1996.  But all the extraction activities were stopped during 1999 in view of subsequent orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

By including the areas of GLAD, PTR was reorganized during 2001 into two territorial divisions, viz., Periyar East and Periyar West with headquarters at Thekkady and Peermedu respectively. The India Ecodevelopment Project (IEDP) was implemented in Periyar Tiger Reserve from 1996 to 2004.  For sustaining eco-development initiatives, a trust named Periyar Foundation was established in 2004, which has become a model for the country.

In 2007, the core or critical tiger habitat of PTR was notified with an extent of 881 km2 which includes 733 km2 of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Proper and 148 km2 of Reserved Forests in the adjoining Goodrickal Range of Ranni Division.  An extent of 44 km2 of Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary Proper is proposed as the buffer for tiger reserve.

History of Periyar Tiger Reserve in brief:
1895 – Construction of Mullaperiyar Dam
1899 – Formation of Periyar Lake Reserve.
1933 – S.C.H. Robinson made the first game warden
1934 – Formation of Nellikkampatty Game Sanctuary
1950 – Consolidation as Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary.
1978 – Declaration as Periyar Tiger Reserve.
1982 – Preliminary notification of the core area as National Park.
1991 – Brought under Project Elephant.
1996 – India Eco-development Project launched.
2001 – Reorganised as two Divisions, Periyar East and Periyar West
2004 – Formation of Periyar Foundation
2007 – Adding of 148km2 from Goodrical Range of Ranni Division.

Terrain & Geomorphology


Terrain is undulating with lofty peaks of over 1700 meters bordering the north and east. Towards the west it merges into an extensive tableland Mount Plateau of average elevation 1200 meters. rom the edge of this plateau the land falls steeply to the thickly forested tracts of Sabarimala hills in the Pamba River basin. The overall elevation ranges from 100 meters at Pambavalley to 2019 meters at Kottamalai.

Climate & Rain fall

The temperature ranges from 15º C in December and January and up to 31º C in April & May. The Annual rainfall ranges from 2000 mm to 3000 mm. Two-thirds of the rainfall occurs during the southwest monsoon from June to September. The northeast monsoon impacts from October to December. There are some pre-monsoon showers from mid April.

Zonation

Periyar Tiger Reserve covers a total area of 925 Sq. km. , which is divided into the following zones:
Core Zone

The core area of 881 km2 includes an area of 733 km2 included from the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary proper, and 148 km2 of Reserved Forest area recently added from the Goodrical Range of Ranni forest division. The core zone is critical tiger habitat and forms the primary watershed of the river Periyar. This area is free of all disturbances, intended for total preservation and no human activities are permitted within its boundaries.



Buffer Zone

The buffer zone covers an area of 44 km2, lying outside the core. This area comprises the tourism zone; part of the Periyar lake; areas of Sabarimala pilgrimage including traditional trek routes and forest routes used for pilgrimage, all leased areas and establishments of the Kerala Forest Department; and areas of human settlements including tribal settlements.

Tourism Zone

All tourism activities like boating, guided trekking, adventure trekking and camping in watchtowers are confined to the 10 km2 tourism zone, lying within the buffer zone. Parts of the tourism zone have been leased out to the Kerala Tourism Developemnt Corporation (KTDC), Kerala Labour Welfare Board, Tamil Nadu Public Works Department and Electricity Board, Kerala Water Authority and the Labbakandam tribal settlement.

Location Of Periyar Tiger Reserve

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