Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar
Encyclopedia
Blackbuck National Park at Velavadar is situated in the Bhavnagar District
of Gujarat state, India
.
Established in 1976 in the Bhal region
of Saurashtra, the park is located around 72 km from the district headquarter city of Bhavnagar
. Hugging the coasts of the Gulf of Khambhat
on the south, it is spread over an area of 34.08 km², which was primarily a "vidi" (grassland) of the Maharaja
of the princely state
of Bhavnagar. On the northern side, it is surrounded by wastelands and agriculture fields. The National park
has been classified as 4B Gujarat-Rajwada biotic province of semi-arid bio-geographical zone.
Flat land, dry grasses and herds of antelope
s have always attracted visitors to this park which has a unique grassland ecosystem running a successful conservation program of the Blackbuck
, the Wolf and the Lesser Florican
(a bustard
) among others. Considered to be an exclusive Indian species
, the Lesser Floricans, which were free dwellers throughout the country, have their numbers plummeting in the recent decades almost everywhere in India. Today, the largest population has been sustained in this park.
was measuring about 17.88 km². Subsequently, in 1980, another 16.22 km² were added, increasing the total spread of the part to the current figure of 34.08 km².
A certain southern portion of the park which is adjoining the Gulf of Khambhat, falls under its high tide zone and gets inundated with water. However, its semi-arid
conditions, together with this inundation of seawater during monsoon, creates habitat
s suitable for various dependent fauna of the Park.
According to the remote sensing
geology
study data of habitat types, the Park area is classified as follows:
population of the park mainly includes Blackbucks, Wolves, Houbara bustard
and Lesser Floricans, with fox
es, jackal
s and Jungle Cat
s as the main carnivores species. Other species include wild pigs, hare
s and rodent
s, typical of the savanna
h type grasslands and thorn scrubs.
Among the avifauna
family, Sandgrouse
and lark
s are seen in fair numbers. According to Roger Clarke, the British
harrier-expert, the harrier
roost found at the park is one of the largest in the world.
and winter (normally, mid-June to March-end) is considered to be the recommended period. The best time to visit Velavadar National Park is from December to March as many species of migratory birds which includes three species of Harriers, Lesser Florican, Eagles, Waders and many other water birds arrive to spend winter.
Bhavnagar airport
is connected with the international airport
s of Mumbai
with daily flight frequency. The closet international airport by road is Ahmedabad international airport at 140 miles. The closest railway station is at the town of Dhola, which is about 50 km from the park. The historical town of Vallabhipur is about 30 km away.
The park has a bungalow
operated by the Government Forest department where a stay can be arranged by prior booking.
Bhavnagar district
Bhavnagar is a peninsular district of South-Eastern Gujarat. Bhavnagar city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It had a population of 2,469,630 of which 37.86% were urban as of 2001. It covers an area of over 9940 km²...
of Gujarat state, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Established in 1976 in the Bhal region
Bhal region
Bhāl region is spread across political boundaries of two districts of the Indian state of Gujarat, namely Bhavnagar district and Ahmedabad district . The word Bhaal seems to have been derived from the Sanskrit word भाल which means forehead...
of Saurashtra, the park is located around 72 km from the district headquarter city of Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar
-Topography:Bhavnagar is a coastal city in the eastern coast of Saurashtra, also known as Kathiawar, located at . It has an average elevation of 24 metres . It occupies area of 53.30 km². General slope dips in the northeasterly direction at the apex of Gulf of Khambhat...
. Hugging the coasts of the Gulf of Khambhat
Gulf of Khambhat
The Gulf of Khambhat is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, in the state of Gujarat. It is about 80 miles in length, and divides the Kathiawar peninsula to the west from the eastern part of Gujarat state on the east. The Narmada and Tapti rivers empty into the Gulf...
on the south, it is spread over an area of 34.08 km², which was primarily a "vidi" (grassland) of the Maharaja
Maharaja
Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...
of the princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
of Bhavnagar. On the northern side, it is surrounded by wastelands and agriculture fields. The National park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
has been classified as 4B Gujarat-Rajwada biotic province of semi-arid bio-geographical zone.
Flat land, dry grasses and herds of antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s have always attracted visitors to this park which has a unique grassland ecosystem running a successful conservation program of the Blackbuck
Blackbuck
Blackbuck is a species of antelope native to the Indian subcontinent. Their range decreased sharply during the 20th century. Since 2003, the IUCN lists the species as near threatened....
, the Wolf and the Lesser Florican
Lesser Florican
The Lesser Florican , also known as the Likh, is a large bird in the bustard family and the only member of the genus Sypheotides. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall grasslands and is best known for the leaping breeding displays made by the males during the Monsoon...
(a bustard
Bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World...
) among others. Considered to be an exclusive Indian species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, the Lesser Floricans, which were free dwellers throughout the country, have their numbers plummeting in the recent decades almost everywhere in India. Today, the largest population has been sustained in this park.
Geography
In July 1976 when the park was established, the initial protected areaProtected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
was measuring about 17.88 km². Subsequently, in 1980, another 16.22 km² were added, increasing the total spread of the part to the current figure of 34.08 km².
A certain southern portion of the park which is adjoining the Gulf of Khambhat, falls under its high tide zone and gets inundated with water. However, its semi-arid
Semi-arid
A semi-arid climate or steppe climate describes climatic regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not extremely...
conditions, together with this inundation of seawater during monsoon, creates habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
s suitable for various dependent fauna of the Park.
According to the remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
study data of habitat types, the Park area is classified as follows:
- 7.57 km² of dense grasslandGrasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
and 9.91 km² of sparse grassland - 5.05 km² of ProsopisProsopisProsopis is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion...
shrublandShrublandShrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity... - saline lands covering about 5.13 km²
- 5.08 km² covered by high tidal mudflatMudflatMudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s
Wildlife
The faunaFauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
population of the park mainly includes Blackbucks, Wolves, Houbara bustard
Houbara Bustard
The Houbara Bustard, Chlamydotis undulata, is a large bird in the bustard family.-Description:The Houbara Bustard is a small to mid-sized bustard. It measures in length and spans across the wings. It is brown above and white below, with a black stripe down the sides of its neck. In flight, the...
and Lesser Floricans, with fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
es, jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
s and Jungle Cat
Jungle Cat
The jungle cat is a medium-sized cat and considered the largest remaining species of the wild cat genus Felis. The species is also called the swamp lynx but is not closely related to the lynxes....
s as the main carnivores species. Other species include wild pigs, hare
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
s and rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, typical of the savanna
Savanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
h type grasslands and thorn scrubs.
Among the avifauna
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
family, Sandgrouse
Sandgrouse
The sandgrouse are a family, Pteroclididae, of 16 bird species, the only living members of the order Pteroclidiformes. They are restricted to treeless open country in the Old World, such as plains and semi-deserts. They are distributed across northern, southern and eastern Africa as well as...
and lark
Lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark...
s are seen in fair numbers. According to Roger Clarke, the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
harrier-expert, the harrier
Harrier (bird)
A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks forming the Circinae sub-family of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds....
roost found at the park is one of the largest in the world.
Tourist information
Though the park is open throughout the year, the period between monsoonMonsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
and winter (normally, mid-June to March-end) is considered to be the recommended period. The best time to visit Velavadar National Park is from December to March as many species of migratory birds which includes three species of Harriers, Lesser Florican, Eagles, Waders and many other water birds arrive to spend winter.
Bhavnagar airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
is connected with the international airport
International airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
s of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
with daily flight frequency. The closet international airport by road is Ahmedabad international airport at 140 miles. The closest railway station is at the town of Dhola, which is about 50 km from the park. The historical town of Vallabhipur is about 30 km away.
The park has a bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
operated by the Government Forest department where a stay can be arranged by prior booking.