More than 19,500 rescued orchids are still alive near Kozhikode

More than 19,500 orchids rescued from road clearance in Kerala were still alive one to two years later. Mongabay reported on November 10, 2026, that researchers collected 27,324 epiphytic orchids from trees that had been felled or were scheduled to be cut, then tied them onto trees at Kappad Beach, Sarovaram Bio Park, and the Malabar Botanical Garden. Nearly 71 percent survived. Of 6,126 endemic plants in the rescue, nearly 55 percent were alive. Twelve rescued species live only in the region, and 11 of those 12 are not on the IUCN Red List. Kerala has 271 known orchid species.

Viswambharan Sarasan of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a co-author of the study, said many hill species flowered and made seed capsules near sea level, which the team had not expected. At Sarovaram, which the authors say draws nearly 511,000 fee-paying visitors a year, QR codes on 10 species drew more than 126,000 scans in two years. The researchers called rescue a last resort when the host trees cannot be kept. The news is this survival count. It does not say how many orchids are still being lost on other roads.