Also called the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary, the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary forms and integral part of the Nilgiri biosphere reserve, a UNESCO protected site. Abutting the Bandipore, nagarhole and Mudhumalai wildlife sanctuary, this is a veritable treasure trove of biological wealth.

 

The Western Ghats are one of the last surviving rain forests in India and hence they are of great ecological importance. Apart from this the Wayanad Sanctuary is an active area of elephant migration. The national park is home to more than 1000 elephants which make it very easy to spot them here.

This sanctuary is under the administrative control of the Kerala forest department and is included in project Tiger as well as Project Elephant. This sanctuary was established in the year 1973 and was brought under project elephant in 1992. The sanctuary is spread over an area of 345 Sq Km, and it is divided in two parts: Upper and lower Wayanad sanctuary. The area in between used be heavily forested, but presently is occupied by coffee and tea plantations.

Some of the commonly seen animals in this sanctuary include the Elephant, panther, jungle cats, the Malabar squirrel, deer, bison and many species of butterflies, birds and insects. An occasional tiger has also been spotted here.

This sanctuary is also home to a rare blue beard bee eater. It is the largest bee eater in the world and amongst the 24 species of bee eaters in the world; six can be seen in Wayanad. This rare bird builds nests on the ground and usually dwells in forest especially low land forest clearings and open hill forests. The bird has pale blue forehead and a "beard". The upper parts of the head are green and the belly adorned with soft streaks. The long tail is yellow below and square ended. The bird has de-curved slender black bill and short wings. Its call is audible from a good distance.

Before feeding the young, the bird gives a special kind of call to its young ones, perching on a nearby tree as if signalling them to come to the entrance of the nest to receive the food. The nests are found to be almost two and a half meter long inside, a peculiar to this species. The nest and the chicks are highly vulnerable to attack of snakes.