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Home > Kerala Wildlife Sanctuaries > Silent Valley National Park Silent Valley National Park
The core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the Silent Valley National Park is probably one of the most magnificent gifts of nature to mankind, a unique preserve of tropical rain forests in all its pristine glory with an almost unbroken ecological history. Thanks largely to its difficult terrain and remoteness, the extent of degradation is minimal in comparison with other sanctuaries. Sairandhri Vanam, meaning the forest in the valley, as referred to in the Mahabharatha and the River Kunthi give a mythological dimension to the National Park. The Silent Valley is seldom silent but it has an inexplicably unique character about it, what with the dense forest, the music of the birds and its quitet majesty.With an area of close to 90 sq.kms, the park is situated in the north-eastern corner of the Palakkad district. It rises abruptly to the Nilgiri plateau in the north and overlooks the plains of Mannarkkad in the south. The river Kunthi descends from the Niligiri hills above an altitude of 2000 m and traverses the entire length of the valley finally rushing down to the plains through a deep gorge. River Kunthi never turns brown; it is crystal clear, perennial and wild. Basic facts about Silent Valley National Park
FloraThe forests belong to the biogeographical class of the Malabar rain forests and harbour about 1000 species of plants. The flowering plants here include 966 species to 134 families and 599 genera. The dicotyledons are 701 in number, distributed among 113 families and 430 genera; monocotyledons are 265 distributed among 21 families and 139 genera. The 5 dominant families recorded from Silent Valley are; 1. Orchidaceae with 108 species belonging to 49 genera, Febaceae with 545 species representing 26 genera, 2. Rubiaceae with 49 species representing 27 genera and 3. Asteraceae with 45 species representing 25 genera. Many of these are rare and endangered and some are now lost elesewhere The following are some of the new specieis and genera recorded recently from Silent Valley - Hedyotis silentvalleyensis, Kanjaram palghatensis, Porpax chandrasekharanhii, Silentavelleya nairii, Nydnocarpus pendulus etc.
New species of orchids recorded are:1. Oberonia bisaccata, Liparis indiraii, Eriatiagii, Ipsea malabarica, a ground orchid rediscovered after a lapse of more than a century and 2. Scutellaria oblonga and Anodendron rhinosporum, two Sri Lankan plants have also been recorded. FaunaThe valley has a fair representation of all peninsular mammals. They are lion - tailed macaque, Nilgiri langur, bonnet macaque, tiger, leopard (Panther), leopard cat, fishing act, common palm civet,small Indian civer, brown plam civet, ruddy mongoose, stripenencked mongoose, wild dog, sloth bear, otter, flying squirrel, Malabar gaint squirrel, Indian pangolin (scaly anteater), Porcupine, wild boar, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, mouse deer, gaur and elephant. Birds include rare such as Indian black-crested baza, bonellis' hawk eagle, rufous bellied hawk eagle, shaheen falcon, short-eared owl, penisular scops owl, Ceylon frog mouth, great Indian hornbill, Niligiri laughing thrush, house martin, rufous bellied shortwing, Malay bittern etc. About 170 species have been recorded of which 31 are migrants.The fauna include a number of possible new species, a few very primitive animal groups, notably Ceacilians (limbless amphibians) and some rare small mammals such as the Peshwa's bat and heary-winged bat.Butterflis and moths are varied and plenty. There are more than 100 species of butterflies and 400 species of moths. Quite a few of them are extremely rare and endemic. The Silent Valley is a veritable treasure house-a gene pool of tropical flora and fauna. This has to be protected from human depredation and cherished for all times to come.
Tropical Rain ForestsTropical evergreen forests occurring within a narrow strip above the equator is perhaps the most endangered natural habitat. Extremely fragile, it has suffered most from human interaction.In species diversity it is the richest habitat and has developed in area of the heaviest rain fall. That there is a very little soil erosion and that the rains are transformed into perennial streams and rivers may be attributed to thick canopy and closely packed tree stumps. In fact, scarcity of water is rarely felt. The evapotranspiration from these forests is much higher than from any other surface. This cools the atmosphere helping easy condensation of water vapor. This is the origin of the much-awaited summer rains. Wild fires lead to abrupt changes in the eco system degrading the forest. When the Britishers entered the Silent Valley more than a century ago, these forests were untouched and extended enormously on all sides. They named it the Silent Valley because there were no cycads then. Today however, true evergreen forests untouched by man is only a dream. Unlike most other sanctuaries, viewing wild animals in this park is quite difficult because of the thick vegetation.
Significance of Silent Valley National Park
Bio geographically, Silent Valley and the adjacent forests of the Western Ghats represent “ecological islands” in which it is possible to observe the conditions that prevailed before modifications set in, in the humid tropical forests of peninsular India. Though the stability of these ecological islands is fast dwindling, these ecological products introduce an important factor in the bio geographical evolution, viz. isolation mostly due to physical barriers as a result of the Palakkad gap. Isolation, therefore, has had the effect of preserving the relict characters of the flora and fauna of Silent Valley and adjacent areas, as indicated by the presence of primitive groups of flora and fauna. The distribution range of these relict species had been considerably restricted, presenting an apparent picture of endemism. The intermingling of Indo-Malayan elements in the flora and fauna of the area is due to preservation of the once extensive tropical forests, which extended over the whole of the Peninsula. The concentration and isolation of these elements only in some areas of the Ghats, present precarious picture of survival of relicts of an otherwise impoverished flora and fauna.
The ecological regimes in the southern Western Ghats may be characterized within the following four categories. Elevation:- Low (<500M), moderate(500M -1500M), high(>1500 M) Such a classification will give in combination, 36 different ecological zones. The Silent Valley Plateau represents a very well preserved example of undulating terrain at mid elevation in the high rainfall zone under two zones, one along the water course, Kunthipuzha and the other away from the water course. 
Silent Valley forests show all the known characteristics of the tropical rain forests. These include:
The number of tree species computed for the Silent Valley (118 vascular plants of 84 species in 0.4 ha) is very high compared to a range of 60 to 140 species that characterise the other known tropical forests. The Alpha Diversity Index is 4.8, which is the same as that of another well known tropical rain forest, Barro Colorado Islands in Panama Canal. Zoological Survey of India had conducted faunal survey in 5 different locations. The specimens were sorted out into species and the groups compared. The levels of diversity in the Silent Valley were found to be much higher than those of the other areas. The limited studies of the fauna of Silent Valley reveals that its rich resources as rare and unique – rare because many species which originally inhabited the entire belt of the Western Ghats have been lost due to destruction of their habitat by human beings or for other reasons. These faunal resources however are still available in Silent Valley, because of the relatively little human intrusion. It is unique because what little has been collected and studied has already proved to be of immense scientific interest from the taxonomic, zoogeographic and ecological points of view. A number of species, which were available in the Western Ghats 50 to 100 years ago and which have not been recorded subsequently, still exist in Silent Valley. They include insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Type specimens of these, described earlier by scientists, have been deposited in museums outside India. Even prototypes are not available in India for referral studies. How to ReachHow to Reach By Rail The nearest Railhead is Palakkad Junction (Olavacode) which is nearly 60 Kms away from the base camp of the National Park, Mukkali . By Air Nearest Air Ports are Cochin (135KM), Coimbatore (55 KM) and Calicut (80KM). By road From East: Palakkad (60 KM) and Coimbatore (45 KM) The nearest town is Mannarkkad, which is 19 km from Mukkali. Also do check out our exclusive photo gallery for more images from Silent Valley National Park .
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