Shendruny Wildlife Sanctuary

Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Kollam district, about 66 kms from Kollam town on the Kollam–Shencotta Road. The Shenduruny forest was declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 1984. The name "Shenduruny" comes from an endemic species of tree called Chenkuruny (Gluta travancoria), mainly confined to this region. The artificial lake formed by the Parappar Dam built across the Shenduruny and Kulathupuzha rivers occupies the central region of the sanctuary. This wildlife sanctuary covers an area of 100.32 square kms and the lake covers an area of 26 square km. The vegetation consists of the hilly terrain at 100 m to 1717 m above sea level, west coast tropical evergreen forest, west coast tropical semi evergreen forest and southern moist mixed deciduous forest.

The major wildlife animals found in the Shendruny wildlife sanctuary are the Macaca radiata, Bonnet macaque, gaur (Indian bison), sambar, barking deer (muntjack), wild boar, Indian giant squirrel, three striped palm squirrel, lion-tailed macaque, mouse deer (Indian chevrotian), Nilgiri langur, elephant, tiger, leopard etc.

Besides famous for the wildlife sanctuary the Shenduruny was also the cradle of one of the oldest river valley civilizations in India. The remains of the stone age culture belonging to the Mesolithic period from 5210 to 4420 BC, have also been excavated from a large cave at the northwestern part of the Shenduruny River. The cave which is large enough to hold 20 people at a time has paintings similar to the Mesolithic paintings found in the caves of central India.