Wild Mammals around Periyar Lake

As I mentioned earlier, most of the wildlife we encountered in the reserve were during the boat ride in the lake. Apart from birds, Sambar deer were extremely common along the banks of the lake. They were always seen grazing on the grass in groups.

Birds in the foreground and deer in the background

A small Smooth Otter captured my eye during the ride, but unfortunately, the boat was pretty far away and the otter only stayed for a few seconds on the bank before diving back into the deep water. These cute little creatures are supposed to be rather common here.

Wild Bison were considered a common species here, but we only spotted 2 groups of these beasts.
 I'm guessing they don't head out during rainy or dewy weather.

It's not that easy to tell from the boat, whether the animals were bison or deer, due to the distance and the fog. Had it been a bright and sunny day, the chances of spotting wildlife would have been more, and I could have been able to photograph better too.