Four-Day Peechi Division Survey Adds 36 Species to Kerala Sanctuaries' Wildlife Checklist
A four-day survey of the Peechi wildlife division in Kerala from 8 to 11 October 2026, conducted by the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department with the Travancore Nature History Society, recorded 395 species of birds, butterflies and odonates across the Chimmony, Peechi-Vazhani and Chulannur Peafowl sanctuaries, working from 10 base camps. Of these, 36 were new to the checklist - 22 butterflies, 8 birds and 6 odonates. The tally included 174 butterflies and 56 odonates. New records featured the Sahyadri plain puffin and Sahyadri colour sergeant butterflies and the Malabar lark and purple heron among birds; tigers, leopards, elephants and gaur were also sighted.
Odonata is the insect order comprising dragonflies and damselflies, whose nymphs develop in freshwater | The Chulannur Peafowl Sanctuary is among the very few protected areas in India dedicated to the Indian peafowl, the national bird | The Western Ghats is one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity and one of India's four biodiversity hotspots, along with the Himalaya, Indo-Burma and Sundaland