Velavadar National Park

Where is the Black Buck National Park :

Velavadar is the only tropical grassland in India given the status of a national park. It is locate in the Bhavnagar district in the Bhal region of Saurashtra. The park is situated between two rivers, a few miles from the gulf of Cambay sea coast.


The climate in the Black Buck National Park:


The park falls in the Gujrat-Rajwada biotic province of semi-arid bio-geographical zone.The portion around the southern border of the park is flooded with water as it lies in the high-tidal zone of Gulf of Khambhat. The remaining sides are surrounded by wastelands and agricultural fields.Its semi-arid conditions teamed with the overflow of sea-water during monsoons creates perfect conditions for variety of flora and fauna to thrive.


Important dates in the Velavadar history:

The park which now extends over an area of 34.08 sq. km. once used to be a private grassland of the former princely state of Bhavnagar covering an area of 1788.88 ha. It was later declared as a reserve forest and still later as a national park in 1976. In 1980, an area of 1622.23 was further added to it.


The Ecological system in the Velvadar Park :

The Black Buck National Park is the home to a variety of flora nad fauna because of its condusive climate and location.


The fauna in the Velavadar National Park:

The park can be divided into areas of dense grasslands, sparse grasslands, Prosopis shrubland, Saline lands and high tidal mudflats.The variety of flora ranges upto thirty-nine species of grasses and 46 species of sedges, shrubs and trees.The dominant grasses are Dichanthium annulatum, Sporobolus virginicus, Sporobolus coromandelianus, Sporobolus madernspatensis.A shrub called Prosopis juliflora covers a large part of the park. Medium sized trees like Salvadora, Acacia nilotica, Zizyphus, Capparis and Suaeda are widespread.


The fauna in the Velavadar National Park:


The park has over 1000 black bucks that can be viewed in the grasslands from a very close range.They are very graceful animals with ringed horns which have a spiral twists of threee to four turns and areupto 70 cms long.They have an amazinng color scheme with their bodies' upper parts being black and the underparts and ring around th eyes being white. The females are usually brown in color and 'hornless'. The males provide an amazing picture with their leaps and hounds and lightening run when trying to impress the females during the rut ( mating season). The efforts of Kathi community in Gujrat in protecting these beautiful animals is laudable. It teaches similar indigenous communities to put up efforts in protecting our rich fauna.Apart from Black buck there are other wild attractions like antelope, black bull, jackal, hyena, jungle cat, fox , wild boars and birds.


The avi-fauna in the Velavadar National Park:


Endangered species of birds can't go without mention like Houbara Bustard, Lesser Florican, Sarus White Storks, White Pelican, Montagu, Pallid Harriers and Marsh. Raptors include Greater Spotted Eagle, juvenile Imperial Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Short-toed Snake Eagle and Long-legged Buzzard. The climate in the park is very condusive for the migratory birds to breed. The males put up very good show during the rut in rainy season. Escapades like spectacular vertical leap upto to meters can be repeated upto 500 times in a day. This place is the largest roosting ground of four species of migratory harriers in the entire world.


How to reach the Velavadar National Park:

Air : Nearest airport is Bhavnagar (72 km).

Rail : The Nearest Railway station is Dhola (52 kms) and Bhavnagar ( 72 kms).

Road : The Nearest bus station is Vallabhipur (32 kms). The park is 72 Kms from Bhavnagar, 315 kms from Rajkot, 170 kms from Ahmedabad 45 kms from Vallabhipur Bus Stop (Bhavnagar District)

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