Sathyamangalam - Sathyamangalam Forest

Sathyamangalam Forest

A portion of the Sathyamangalam forests was declared as sanctuary in 2008.

Sathyamangalam is also the name of a Reserve Forest under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1973. It is contiguous with the Biligirirangan Temple Wildlife Sanctuary to the north in neighbouring Chamarajanagar District of Karnataka, and together forms a vital corridor for faunal movements, mainly elephants. Elephant movements in this corridor were the subject of one of the first studies on the Asian Elephant by the Indian elephant scientist R. Sukumar in early 1980s. The Sathyamangalam elephants were also the subject of Indian elephant expert Vivek Menon's book Tusker: The Story of the Asian Elephant.

The forests were also the home of the cold-blooded Indian bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerapan, who made a living exploiting ivory and sandalwood from the forests and selling them on the black market.

A major National highway NH 209 connecting Coimbatore to Bangalore via Sathyamangalam passes through the forests.