'' The Indira Gandhi National Park and Sanctuary is easily accessible from the Top Slip of the Anamalai Hills of the Western Ghats. In fact this wild life reserve was earlier known as the Anamalai Wild life Sanctuary. The Top Slip is the main tourist zone. The Sanctuary is truly an ecologist's delight. The hill forests and the amazing variety of animals that it is home to gives the biologist's an ideal scope to study the relation between organisms and their environment.
Indira Gandhi National Park (IGNP) and Wildlife Sanctuary better known as Anamalai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Coimbatore of Tamilnadu. The name Anamalai because the sanctuary is located in the Anaimalai Hills , part of the Western Ghats. Anai means elephant and malai means mountain, obviously there are plenty of elephants in the area.
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The Sanctuary is a birders’ paradise. Over 300 species of birds have been sighted. Apart from the Great Pied Hornbil-the flagship species, rare birds like the Frogmouth, Red-winged crested cuckoo are found here. Birds of prey like Crested Serpent Eagle, Spot-billied Eagle , Black Eagle, Crested Gohawk, Rufous bellied Eagle, Jerdon’s Baza, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Owl. Grey Jungle fowl, Painted Bush quail, Red Spurfowl, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, White-bellied Woodpecker, Alpine Swift, Brown-backed Needletail, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Dollar bird, Malabar Trogon, Asian Fairy Bluebird, Blue-bearded Bee eater, White bellied Treepie, White-bellied Shortwing, Wynad Laughingthrush, Hill Myna, Nilgir Flycatcher. Many species of flycatchers, Drongos, Treepies, Birds of prey, Thrushes, Warblers, Babblers, woodpeckers, Parakeets, Pigeons, Shrikes, Cuckoos, Swifts and Owls are also found here.
Attractions in Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary
The Anamalai wildlife sanctuary has various kinds of fauna like Panther, Elephant, Gaur, Sloth Bear, Tiger, Deer, Wild Bear, Porcupine, Wild Dog, Flying Squirrel, Jackal, Civet Cat, Pangolin and birds like Rocket-tailed Drongo, Red Tree Pie, Whiskered Bulbul, Spotted Dove, Black Headed Oriole, Pigeon etc. There is a reservoir (the Amaravati reservoir) in the Anamalai, having a large number of crocodiles.
Best Time to Visit Indira Gandhi National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary
The best time to visit December to April.
How to Reach there
Air: The nearest airport is at Coimbatore (Peelamedu airport, 10 km from Coimbatore city).
Rail: From Pollachi, there are trains to Coimbatore and Dindigul.
Road: There are regular bus services from Coimbatore and Palani to Pollachi, which is the nearest town. There are two buses a day from Pollachi to the Anamalai park. Taxis from Pollachi are also available for hire.