Abhayaranyam - 5 Things to Know Before Visiting

Abhayaranyam mini zoo is part of an ecotourism project aimed at the rehabilitation of all animals from the Kodnad Elephant Training Centre 2 km away. The elephant training centre was only 2.5 acres in area along the banks of the Periyar River and the land became insufficient as the number of animals kept increasing. This resulted in the formation of Abhayaranyam and moving of animals from the training centre.

Abhayaranyam and the nearby Kodanad Elephant Sanctuary

During the 1950’s, Kodanad was one of the largest elephant training centres in the country. Twenty years later when the government banned capturing elephants, it became a centre for training young elephants which were rescued from several parts of the state of Kerala. In addition to elephants, the centre later started to house other animals and birds developing it as a mini zoo.

As the number of animals significantly increased, it became very difficult to keep all of them in the 2.5 acre area of Kodanad Training Centre. As a result, all the animals were moved to Abhayaranyam which has an area of 200 acres allowing Kodanad Elephant Training Centre finally closed for good.

What to see at Abhayaranyam

Abhayaranyam mini zoo is located in the midst of a forest with areas allocated for animals such as the spotted deers, sambar (a large deer native to the Indian Subcontinent), and elephants. The 100 acres of the forest adjacent to the Periyar River are allocated just for the elephants so that they have lots of areas to roam around freely. The spotted deers and sambars are kept at large fenced areas. In addition to watching the small variety of animals, hiking through the trails inside the forest is also possible at Abhayaranyam.

Abhayaranyam mini zoo is still under development, aiming to establish it as a wildlife safari place in the model of other national parks in the country.

Getting to Abhayaranyam

Abhayaranyam is located at Kaprikkad town in Ernakulam district of Kerala State in Southern India. The nearest town is Perumbavoor (10km) from where there are multiple buses to Kaprikkad. The nearest major railway station is an Aluva and from Aluva there are buses to Perumbavoor.