The wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala provide refuge to different forms of wildlife in Kerala and provide tourists with an opportunity to see these rare creatures in their natural surroundings.Some of the unique wild animals that tourists can see on tours of Kerala, with Kerala Backwater are elephants, Nilgiri Tahr,deer, monkeys, civet cats, squirrels including the Malabar giant squirrel ,etc. You can see different varieties of birds including woodpeckers, Malabar hornbills, kingfishers,etc.

THE ERAVIKULAM NATIONAL PARK:
This vegetation rich park is relatively new as it got notified as a park only in 1978. This national park was established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered specie of the wild goat and the only one to be found south of the Himalayas. The park lies along the high ranges of the western coast in the Munnar Forest Division of Idukki district in Kerala. It is situated on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the north where it is extends as the Annamalai National Park.

THE PARAMBIKULAM WILD LIFE SANCTUARY:
This bird sanctuary is a peninsular land of 25 sq. km. Formed between the branches of River Periyar. The rivers are rich in fishlife and are shallow for most of the year. The avifauna includes both resting indigenous birds and water birds. The most notable of the indigenous birds are Malabar grey hornbill, grey jungle fowl, heron, egret, jungle myna, wood pecker, rose winged and blue winged parakeet. Rare birds like Ceylon frog-mouth, rose billed roller etc. are also seen. Parambikulam is endowed with luxuriant vegetation. It has one of the largest population of gaur (bison). Sambar, spotted deer, jungle cat, lion-tailed macaque, common otter, sloth bear etc. are also seen.

THE SILENT VALLEY NATIONAL PARK:
Located in the Kundali Hills of the Western Ghats, the Silent Valley National Park holds a valuable reserve of rare plants and herbs. The park is rich in its wildlife, and elephants, lion-tailed macaques and tigers are the most common denizens of this park. Though smaller in size in comparison to the other national parks in India, what makes it different is the sylvan environment the region has, along with its high altitude peaks and several rivers that run through it.

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