Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu, south India. It covers at an elevation range of in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. A part of this area has been protected since 1940. The national park has been part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve since 1986 and was declared a tiger reserve together with a buffer zone of in 2007. It receives an annual rainfall of about and harbours tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests with 498 plant species, at least 266 bird species, 18 carnivore and 10 herbivore species. It is drained by the Moyar River and several tributaries, which harbour 38 fish species. Traffic on three public roads passing through the national park has caused significant roadkills of mammals, reptiles and amphibians. The park's northern part has been affected by several wildfires since 1999. History The word Mudumalai is a Tamil word with 'mutu' meaning old, ancient, original; and 'mudhukadu' meaning ancient forest. The word 'malai' means hill or mountain. The name 'Mudumalai forest' was already in use when the British Government rented the forest in 1857 for logging purposes from the Raja of Neelambur. In 1914, large forest tracts on the Sigur Plateau were declared as reserve forest for systematic logging. An area of about was established as Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in 1940. The sanctuary was enlarged in 1977 and incorporated into Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in 1986. It was declared as a Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger in April 2007 and notified as 'Critical Tiger Habitat' in December 2007. At the time, 1947 people lived in 28 hamlets inside the reserve; they kept about 1,060 cattle. In 2010, it was proposed to resettle them. This notification was criticised by activists and conservationists as having been intransparent and undemocratic. In 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority approved the release of funds to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the frame of Project Tiger. In 2020, Project Tiger has been extended until 2021 with funding of 114.1 million borne by the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu. Geography Mudumalai National Park covers in the eastern hills of the Western Ghats at an elevation range of ; it is bordered in the west by Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, in the north by Bandipur National Park and in the east by Sigur Reserve Forest. In the south, it