Silent Valley National Park – Kerala

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The Nilgiri Hills in southern India feature numerous exotic wildlife destinations. Most part of the national park remains untouched and unexplored. Sprawling over an area of around 237.52 sq km, the Silent Valley National Park has the distinction of having the only bit of evergreen forests in the Western Ghats. The wildlife riches of the national park were jeopardized when a hydroelectric project was to be set up here. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the status of the Silent Valley was upgraded to a national park in the year 1985. Today, the national park also forms an important part of the Nilgir Biosphere Reserve.

Best Time to Visit
It would be ideal to plan your wildlife tour to Silent Valley National Park between December and April.

Silent Valley Wildlife Attractions

The forests of the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala shelter a variety of wildlife species. These include 34 mammalian species, 170 avian species (birds) and 35 species of reptiles. So, travelers can not only enjoy animals but also spend some time in bird watching.

Commonly spotted mammal species in the national park include Nilgiri Tahr, leopard, tiger, Malabar giant squirrel and lion tailed macaque among others. During your wildlife safari, you will also watch other mammals like jungle cat, fishing cat, wild boar, elephant, sambar, barking deer, otter, brown palm civet etc.

Bird watchers can spend time watching bird species including both domestic as well as migratory ones; the number of migratory birds spotted in the wildlife park is around 31. Laughing thrush, grey headed bulbul, Malabar grey hornbill, Nilgiri wood pigeon, white belly shortwing, shaheen falcon and the Peninsular scop’s owl are major bird attractions for wildlife viewers. In addition, Silent Valley also features 35 reptilian species, 100 butterfly species and 400 species of moths.

Things to Do in Silent Valley

Participate in the free 2-day-log nature camps in the national park. For studying the ecology system of tropical rain forests, Silent Valley National Park remains to be perfect destinations. These wildlife camps are mainly organized for school and college-goers.

Travelers are also invited for nature walks and exciting bird watching tours in the confines of the national park. With around 170 species of birds found in Silent Valley, the tour is definitely going to be an enriching one.

Paid wildlife camps are also frequently organized. Along with your family, kids and near and dear ones, you can experience and learn a lot about the local flora and fauna in the wildlife park.

Reaching Silent Valley National Park
The closest railway station from the park is located at Palakkad, at 60 km. Coimbatore has the nearest airport; other closely located airports include Kozhikode (80 km) and Cochin (135 km). Well connected road routes make the Silent Valley National Park accessible from places like Palakkad, Thrissur, Coimbatore, Cochin and Kozhikode among other key destinations in southern India.

Silent Valley National Park map

Kerala, India

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