Located around 16 km away from Sulthan Bathery, the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, popularly known as Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary is a rainforest wich connects Nagarhole and Bandipur parks in Karnataka and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu. Spread over an area of 345 sq km, the sanctuary is an abode of rich flora and fauna.
Established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1973, the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary was brought under the Project Elephant in the year 1991-92. It is considered to be the second-largest wildlife sanctuary in Kerala and bio-geographically one of the richest tracts of peninsular India. Here you can see semi-evergreen, moist deciduous and dry deciduous forests.
The moist deciduous forest of Muthanga is blessed with varieties of trees and other plants. You can sight here Maruthi, karimaruthi, rosewood, venteak, vengal, etc. Go and get excited with the sight of wild animals like elephant, tiger, panthers, jungle cats, civet cats, monkeys, wild dogs, etc. The sanctuary is also blessed with its endless population of birds like peacocks, babblers, cuckoos, owls, woodpeckers, jungle fowls, etc.
Wayanad wildlife sanctuary consists of four ranges – Sulthan bathery, Kurichyad, Muthanga, and Tholpetty, of which Muthanga and Tholpetty ranges are mostly targeted by the tourists’ to Wayanad. They are separated by plantations. These are two eco-tourism centers in Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. The eco-tourism in these places helps to create conservation awareness in the minds of the travelers and to well maintain the sanctuary and its premises. The eco-tourism programs consist of elephant camp visits, jeep safari, trekking, bird watching, tribal folklore, etc.
You can visit this wildlife sanctuary from June to October. Frequent buses are available to reach this destination. The other destinations near to Wayanad wildlife sanctuary are Bandipur National park, Mudumalai Elephant Park and Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary.
