MUDUMALAIAs wild as it getsBy Sunaad Raghuram and Anurag MallickA little distance past Bandipur in the direction of Ooty, you'll reach the Ari Gouder Bridge with its arched beams to the sides, built in typical Tamil Nadu style. Cross it and there is a check-post. Pass it and you're inside the Mudumalai National Park. Which effectively means the contiguous forests just assume a different name beyond the bridge.
The range of wildlife is the same as in Bandipur. But Mudumalai has two features that its neighbour doesn't , the Moyar River, and proximity to the imposing Nilgiri mountain ranges. In complete contrast to laid-back Bandipur, Mudumalai is also one of the most happening sanctuaries in South India, with a large number of `jungle' resorts on the outskirts of the forest bringing travellers in close contact with the fauna of the Blue Mountains.
Mudumalai Sanctuary is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, at the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The sanctuary was set up in 1932 and has remained an effectively conserved game park since then. Evergreen forests, grasslands, swamps and a wide variety of wildlife, including one of the largest pachyderm settlements in India, gaur, tigers and panthers to deer, wild boar and monitor lizards can be found here. If the tiger can be a hard cat to spot, the sanctuary abounds with civets, antelopes, langurs and macaques, and a lot of birds. At night, the glow-worms provide alternative lighting.