The Tamil Nadu government in its budget has announced that a new wildlife sanctuary called 'Thanthai Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary' will be formed in Erode district. It will be the 18th such sanctuary in the state.

• The sanctuary will be formed over 80,567 hectares of forest land located in Gobichettipalayam and Anthiyur taluks of the district.
• In the proposed sanctuary, the animal populations would mainly comprise elephants, tigers, leopards, panthers, wild boars, and deer.
• Thanthai Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is situated at close proximity with the Malai Mahadeshwara wildlife sanctuary, BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, Cauvery wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka.