Abstract

Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Palghat District of Kerala (76 min. 35'-76 min. 50'E and 10 min. 20'-10 min. 26'N) . West coast tropical wet-evergreen forests, west coast tropical semi-evergreen forests, Southern secondary moist-mixed deciduous forests, dry-deciduous forests, grasslands, swamps and teak and eucalyptus plantations form the major habitat of the sanctuary. The whole area in the sanctuary was covered on foot and the population status of each species of larger and medium-sized mammals was recorded by direct counts. Indirect evidences such as droppings/pellets, hoof/pugmark/foot prints and calls were also taken into consideration. 25 species of larger and medium-sized mammals have been recorded from this area. They include three endangered species, the lion-tailed macaque, Macaca silenustiger, Panthera tigris and the Nilgiri tahr, Hemitragus hylocrius. The current management problems of the sanctuary, namely cattle grazing, private plantations