Thattekad Bird sanctuary is spread around 25sq.km mainland land area. It is also known as Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary and home to more than 200 varieties of bird. It is surrounded by several branches of the Periyar river. You can enjoy sightseeing of various birds from Malabar grey hornbill to heron, myna, jungle owl, egret, woodpecker and also rare birds like rose billed roller and Ceylon frogmouth etc.
The other well-known and worth visiting sanctuaries are Chinnar Wildlife sanctuary, Parambikulam Wildlife sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, Muthanga Wildlife sanctuary, Kadalundi Bird Sanctuary, Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, Silent Valley National Park and Eravikulam National Park.
Kerala wildlife sanctuaries are home to a wide variety of animals, reptiles and floras. The main creatures are Elephants, gaur, sambar, deer, tigers, wild boars, sloth bears, leopards, lion tailed macaques, wild dogs, jungle cats, Nilgiri Tahrs, grizzled giant squirrels, peacocks, star tortoises, wild dogs, civet cats, Hanuman langurs, the Atlas moth, bonnet, macaques, Loris, mongoose, barking deer, bears, pangolins, bison, etc.
The main floras are teak, maruthu, karimaruthi, rosewood, venteak, vengal, chadachi, mazhukanjiram, bamboo, neem, manjanathi, sandal, dendrocalamus, maruthu, vaka, mulluvenka, elavu, manja kadambu pala, vembu, aval, 171 grass species, 143 species of orchids, etc.