Wildlife
Sigur Plateau & Mudumalai Safari
Below the Kalhatti ghat the hills fall away into the Sigur plateau — one of South India's great elephant corridors and the gateway to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, where dawn and dusk jeep safaris run through dry-deciduous forest.
Highlights
- Forest Department jeep safaris from Theppakadu at first and last light, when animals are most active
- The Theppakadu elephant camp, one of India's oldest, where you can watch the morning feeding
- The Moyar river, which draws elephant herds down to drink through the dry summer months
- Mudumalai holds one of the highest tiger densities in India, contiguous with Bandipur and Wayanad
The Sigur plateau is the low, dry shoulder of the Nilgiris between the high grasslands and the Mysore plateau — a critical corridor that lets elephants move between Mudumalai, Bandipur and the Eastern Ghats.
Safaris inside Mudumalai are run only in Forest Department vehicles booked at the Theppakadu reception; private cars are not allowed on the safari route, and there are fixed morning and evening shifts.
Sightings are never guaranteed, but elephant, gaur, spotted deer, sambar and langur are common, with leopard and tiger the rarer prizes. The light, the birdsong and the forest itself reward the trip regardless.
Wildlife to spot & when
- Asian elephant
- Gaur (Indian bison)
- Spotted deer & sambar
- Leopard
- Tiger
- Safari shifts
- 6:30am & 2–6pm
- From Ooty
- ~36 km via Kalhatti
- Entry
- Forest Dept jeep only
- Best months
- March–May
On the map
Good to know
- Getting there
- Down the Kalhatti (Sigur) ghat from Ooty to Masinagudi and Theppakadu, about 36 km; the ghat gate closes at dusk.
- Access
- Jeep safari booked at the Theppakadu reception, Mudumalai
- Best time
- October to May; March–May for the best big-cat odds
Plan your visit