Protected areas of Tamil Nadu cover an area of 3305 km2, constituting 2.54% of the geographic area and 15% of the 22643 km2 recorded forest area of the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. It ranks 14th among all the states and union territories of India in terms of total protected area. Protected areas in South India were created from private hunting grounds of the erstwhile Maharajas of the princely states. Mudumalai National Park was established in 1940 and was the first modern wildlife sanctuary in South India. The protected areas are administered by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of Government of India and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.

<!--This is a work in progress since some of the Bird Sanctuaries have no article and are not geo-labeled # Biosphere reserves There are three Biosphere Reserves in Tamil Nadu. # National parks Tamil Nadu has five [National Parks](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-parks-of-india) covering 307.84 km2. # Wildlife sanctuaries Tamil Nadu has 18 [wildlife sanctuaries](https://bliptext.com/articles/protected-areas-of-india). # Elephant reserves There are five declared elephant sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu as per [Project Elephant](https://bliptext.com/articles/project-elephant). # Tiger reserves Tamil Nadu participates in [Project Tiger](https://bliptext.com/articles/project-tiger) and has five declared [tiger reserves](https://bliptext.com/articles/tiger-reserves-of-india). # Bird sanctuaries There are seventeen declared bird sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. # Zoos, reserves and animal farms There is one conservation reserve at [Tiruvidaimarudur](https://bliptext.com/articles/tiruvidaimarudur-conservation-reserve) in [Thanjavur district](https://bliptext.com/articles/thanjavur-district). There are two [zoos](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-protected-areas-in-india) recognised by the [Central Zoo Authority of India](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-zoo-authority-of-india) namely [Arignar Anna Zoological Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/arignar-anna-zoological-park) and [Madras Crocodile Bank Trust](https://bliptext.com/articles/madras-crocodile-bank-trust), both located in [Chennai](https://bliptext.com/articles/chennai). The state has other smaller zoos run by local administrative bodies such as [Coimbatore Zoo](https://bliptext.com/articles/voc-park-and-zoo) in [Coimbatore](https://bliptext.com/articles/coimbatore), [Amirthi Zoological Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/amirthi-zoological-park) in [Vellore](https://bliptext.com/articles/vellore), Kurumpampatti Wildlife Park in [Salem](https://bliptext.com/articles/salem-district), [Yercaud](https://bliptext.com/articles/yercaud) Deer Park in [Yercaud](https://bliptext.com/articles/yercaud), Mukkombu Deer Park in [Tiruchirapalli](https://bliptext.com/articles/tiruchirapalli-district) and Ooty Deer Park in [Nilgiris](https://bliptext.com/articles/nilgiris-district). There are five crocodile farms located at [Amaravati](https://bliptext.com/articles/amaravathi-dam) in [Coimbatore district](https://bliptext.com/articles/coimbatore-district), [Hogenakkal](https://bliptext.com/articles/hogenakkal-village) in [Dharmapuri district](https://bliptext.com/articles/dharmapuri-district), Kurumbapatti in [Salem district](https://bliptext.com/articles/salem-district), [Madras Crocodile Bank Trust](https://bliptext.com/articles/madras-crocodile-bank-trust) in [Chennai](https://bliptext.com/articles/chennai) and [Sathanur](https://bliptext.com/articles/sathanur-reservoir) in [Tiruvannamalai district](https://bliptext.com/articles/tiruvannamalai-district).