Thick with rosewood and other deciduous-forest trees, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (wayanadwildlifesanctuary.com) is a serenely beautiful and biodiverse place where peacocks and langurs amble through a fiercely protected 345-sq-km expanse also home to wild elephants, sambars, turtles, chital deer, gaur and wild boar. While sightings can never be guaranteed, this pristine pocket of Western Ghats nature is one of the top places in Kerala to see elephants in the wild, though just spending time in the raw forest here is a joy.
Also part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the sanctuary sits within a wider wildlife corridor linked up with several other nature reserves in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, with the occasional tiger or leopard padding through too. It's rich in birdlife as well, providing a refuge for over 250 feathered species, including great hornbills, Bonelli's eagles and endangered vultures (whose numbers have been decimated across India in recent decades).
The sanctuary takes in four different ranges, two of which – Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Tholpetty) (north) and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Muthanga) (southeast) – are open to visitors. The only way to dive in is by official two-hour jeep safari with a guide and a driver, which leave from the Tholpetty and Muthanga ticket offices (up to 4/6 people ₹4200/4800). It’s a bumpy, rattling ride in a semi-open jeep. Muthanga has also introduced safaris by larger bus vehicles. The top wildlife-spotting months are November to April, peaking in March/April when animals gather at dwindling water sources, though the sanctuary often closes from mid-March to mid-April due to fire risk. For the best chances of sighting wildlife, hop on the first or last trip of the day.
There are a limited number of guides and jeeps permitted in the park at one time, and trekking is not permitted.
