Sri
Venkateshwara
National Park extends over two districts of Chittoor and
Cuddapah of Andhra Pradesh in an area of 353.62 sq.km.
The hilly terrain bounded by Seshachalam and Tirumala
hills is rugged and beautiful with gorges, steep slopes,
plateaus and valleys. The park is also famous for its
beautiful waterfalls like Talakona, Gundalakona and
Gunjana.
Visiting Season:
November to January is the best time to visit the park
though it is open throughout the year.
Access:
By Air: Nearest airport is at Tirupati. Flights to
Tirupati are available from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai
and Vijayawada. Indian Airlines, Opposite Central Bus
stand, Tirupati
By Rail: Nearest railway station is at Hyderabad
and the nearest railhead is Tirupati. There are trains
that travel via Renigunta or Gudur, but do not touch
Tirupati. In such cases, Renigunta (just 10-km from
Tirupati) is a convenient point to alight.
By Road: 10 kms from Tirupati by road. The park is
a three hours drive or 160 km from Madras, the capital of
Tamil Nadu.
Temperature:
The area is quite hot during the summer and not very cold
during the winter with a max/min of 15 to 40o C. The
principal rainfall is from North East monsoon.
Accommodation and facilities:
Accommodation is available at Forest Rest House, Rajampet
& Forest Rest House, Tirupati. Also one can avail luxury
hotels at Tirupati.
Wildlife
Flora:
It's dry deciduous mixed type of forest with patches of
moist deciduous forest. It is famous for plant species
like Sandalwood, Redsanders, Shorea, Thumbergiana, Shorea
talura,Terminalia pallida, Cycas beddomei, Syzygium
alternifolium etc. It has about 1500 plant species
belonging to 176 families.
Mammals The sanctuary is famous for very rare
slender Lorises and the rare and endangered golden Gecko,
Indian Giant Squirrel, Tree Shrew and Flying Lizards.
There are other mammal species like the Nilgai, Wildboar,
occasional leopard, hyena etc to be seen here as well.
Birds: There are more than 100 species of birds in
Sri Venkateswaram including Crested Serpant Eagle, Ashy
Crowned Finch Lark, Indian Roller, Kingfishers, White
bellied Woodpecker etc. So bird watchers can look forward
to a busy and happy time.
Total Coverage
Area: 506
sq kms/50,060 ha
Established in: 1989 as a National Park
Location: It is located in Chittoor and Cuddapah
district and located at a distance of 10 km. from
Tirupati.
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