Periyar National Park is known for the protection of tigers and elephants. Periyar is a repository of rare, endemic and endangered flora and fauna. It also forms the major watershed of two important rivers of Kerala, the Periyar and the Pamba.
At the heart of the Park, there is a huge lake that was formed while building a dam back in 1895. A big portion of the forest was destroyed during the construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam. One can still see the black stumps of dead trees in the lake.
Periyar is made up of tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests, grasslands, strands of eucalyptus, and lake and river ecosystems.
It supports a wide variety of plant, animal, reptile and bird life and is home to the only south Indian conifer, nageia wallichiana.
Picture Credit : Google
