Wildlife
TKerala, Gods own country famed for its pristine beaches and the backwaters with its greenery also boasts of forests. The hills of Kerala are home to a large amount of vegetation that supports rich wildlife like many rare animals birds and marine life as well. To understand the wildlife of Kerala one must also have an idea of the terrain and lie of the land in Gods own country.Most of the state of Kerala experiences a humid tropical climate. But the highly significant variations in the terrain of the land, elevation above sea level have led to Kerala being a land of great biodiversity that is highly significant in the world. This native habitat of the state consists of wet evergreen rainforests at lower elevations and highland deciduous forests and semi-evergreen forests as well. These bio diverse tracts of land are generally located more to the eastern parts of the state.
As most of the coastal plains of Kerala are utilized for agricultural purposes, wildlife is very scarce these areas of the state. But the 9400 square kilometers of land is forest area in Kerala. There are also wild regions of tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests at the lower and middle elevations, tropical moist and dry deciduous forests and at mid-elevations montane sub-tropical and temperate forests otherwise known as shola forests at the highest elevations. The Shasthamkotta Lake and the Vembanad Kol wetlands are wetlands of international importance.
In the east, the windward mountains shelter tropical moist forests as well as tropical dry forests. These forests are typical of the wider Western Ghats region. The forests of Kerala have more than a thousand species of trees as well as smaller flora like bamboo, the calamus rattan palm and vetiver grass. The wildlife of Kerala is confined to the wildlife sanctuaries that are located in these forests and hilly regions of the Western Ghats. The forests are home to a large number of wild animals, rare birds, amphibians, reptiles. The water bodies like the artificial lakes that are created by the reservoirs as well as the rivers and streams that meander through the forests are home to a large variety of aquatic life.
