Mudumalai…. where the Elephants Whisper

One of the main attributes of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Mudumalai National Park and it’s buffer zone form a dedicated Tiger Reserve too. Spread over an area of more than 320 sq kms and spanning an elevation of 850 to 1300 metres, Mudumalai has amazing biodiversity and harbours tropical and subtropical forests, and a vast treasure of wildlife . Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is one of the five elephant reserves in Tamil Nadu and apart from being home to elephants, also houses the Bengal tiger, the Indian leopard, the sloth bear and many species of birds.

Welcome to Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

The entrance to the Mudumalai National Park

Contiguous with The Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary, The Bandipur National Park and the Sigur and Singara Reserve forests, this National Park forms an important wildlife corridor within the Biosphere Reserve. It provides landscape connectivity for the Asian elephant population in the area contributing to the elephant protection and conservation in a huge way. All these areas are also part of the majestic Western Ghats that border the southern Indian peninsula. The Moyar river is the lifeline of this sanctuary.

There are various visitor attractions at Mudumalai park. Good wildlife viewing opportunities are the Elephant safari and the Van safari conducted by the forest department. Elephant feeding camp at Theppakadu gives an opportunity to see the elephants being bathed and fed. Bokkapuram, Masinagudi, Mavanhalla and Singara are villages here where small homestay accomodations are available.

Staying at one of these destinations gives visitors an opportunity to take safaris in forest vehicles through tracks inside the forest .

Driving to Masinagudi

A forest lodge at Masinagudi and a watch tower to observe wildlife

The landscape at Masinagudi

The Moyyar river near Masinagudi

A drive through the Mudumalai National park can be very exciting. Some pictures to prove this…

An Elephant family goes about their daily life…

Deer decide to display their road crossing skills…

The bisons decide to test our vehicle brakes….

And the little birdie displayed her home…

Where the Elephants Whisper….

The movie “The Elephant Whisperers” which went on to win the Oscar in 2023 chronicled the life of Bomman and Bellie who tended to Raghu ,an orphaned elephant calf. And it all happened right here at the Theppakadu elephant camp where Bomman worked as a mahout. The movie shot this couple to fame.

Theppakadu Elephant camp where this film was shot also shot to fame and public attention was drawn to this camp.

In 2024, The Tamil Nadu forest department released a calender with beautiful pictures of the inhabitants of Theppakadu and their caretakers. The calender outlines the life stories of these elephants.

Bomman and Bellie, the real life heros of “The Elephant Whisperers”

Theppakadu Elephant Camp

This is the oldest elephant camp in Asia ; established more than a century ago and lies in the Mudumalai National Park. Originally the elephants were used for timber transportation . Over time ,it has grown into a conservation, rescue and rehabilitation centre for the gentle giants.

The camp rehabilitates elephant calves who have been abandoned or orphaned and trains them as “Kumkis”. These are trained elephants who are used to mitigate human animal conflict by assisting forest officials in driving wild elephants back into the forest and capturing wild elephants who enter human habitations and cause damage. Thus the abandoned calves are not only cared for but are put to effective use.

Most of the mahouts at Theppakadu are tribals belonging to the Kattunayakar tribe. This is a good example of local tribal participation in conservation.

This camp is also a tourist destination where elephant feeding can be observed besides elephant rides through the sanctuary.

Lodging facilities are available close to the camp .

At Theppakadu

Accomodation at Theppakadu

Feeding centre at Theppakkadu

Food being mixed at the camp

Sigur Plateau

An important wildlife corridor within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, this area supports more than 6300 elephants being the largest single elephant population in India. It is home to several critical elephant migration corridors and was added to Mudumalai as a buffer zone for tiger conservation.

However several threats exist to this critical zone.The growth of resorts and consequent expansion of human activities, the growth of invasives weed species leading to destruction of natural foliage are some of the threats which are being addressed.

Travelling to Mudumalai

Ooty (68kms) and Mysore(100kms) are the nearest railheads while Coimbatore(160kms), Calicut(124kms) and Bangalore(240kms) are the nearest airports.

Reasonably good roads connect all these destinations with Mudumalai. A stay of a couple of days and a few safari rides are good opportunities for wildlife viewing.

With all these attractive wildlife viewing opportunities available at reasonable cost, Mudumalai sure should find a place in your travel bucket list.

Do visit this camp and have a look at the lives of these elephants….

Till then give your feedback and comments…..