Government school students given tour of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

Students from Government Higher Secondary School in Manjoor visited Mudumalai Tiger Reserve for a special tour and Pongal celebrations.

Students from the Government Higher Secondary School in Manjoor were brought to the Theppakadu Elephant Camp, where they were given a special tour of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) by the Forest Department on Wednesday. They were also invited to participate in the pongal celebrations.

Earlier, on October 7, the students had participated in awareness programmes on the occasion of Nilgiri Tahr Day organised by the Mukurthi Forest Range of the Mukurthi National Park. Having exhibited a deep interest in wildlife and environmental issues, the students were invited to Theppakadu under the initiative of C. Vidhya, Deputy Director of MTR (Core Area), a press release from the Department said. The students were informed of the reserve’s rich biodiversity and the ecological services that the landscape provides to both human communities as well as the wildlife which inhabits it.

The students were taken for a safari ride through the park, where they spotted several species native to the forests of MTR. The Department added that the students would be encouraged to participate in awareness campaigns and competitions, for conservation messages to be more widely disseminated among the public, especially among communities living in proximity to wildlife.

Following their tour, the students were also taken to the Theppakadu Elephant Camp, where they were invited to take part in the elephant Pongal celebrations at the camp. Certificates of appreciation were later distributed among the students.