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Travelogues
The principal attraction of the park is the massive population, the largest in the country, of blackbuck, the handsome Indian antelope, seen here in numbers running into thousands. Rated among the most elegant antelopes and fastest long-distance runners (90km or 58 miles per hour), the exclusive Indian Blackbuck is one of the most graceful and beautiful animal of its kind. The males are black and white with a white ring around the eyes and ringed horns that have a spiral twist of three to fours turns and are up to 70 cm long. The light brown female is usually hornless. The fauna of the park comprises mainly of Blackbuck, Antelope, Wolf, jackal and endangered species of birds. Velavadar is also one of the few places in the world where the wolf is proliferating in India, indeed the world, though they are rarely seen in the daylight. The wolves and the jackals are the prime predators of Velavadar national park. Wolves here use shrub land for lying-up, denning and for rendezvous and depend on blackbuck, hare and other small animals as their prey. Other mammals like nilgais, jungle cat, hyena, wild pig, wild boars, hare, Indian fox and rodents are more easily seen on the periphery. Rarities include the bush cat. All these animals can be viewed on the open flat grassland from very close range. The best time for viewing is early in the morning and dusk. The best time to visit the park is from October to June. The park is closed during the monsoons. The Park is very rich in birdlife as well. The climate in Velavdar makes it one of the best places for the migrating birds to breed. Excellent for birding, a large number and variety of birds flock here making the birdlife extensive. Velavadar is an excellent place to see a large number of endangered birds like Houbara Bustard, Lesser Florican, Common Cranes, Sarus White Storks, White Pelican, Montagu, Pallid Harriers, Marsh and other raptors including the steppe, tawny, Greater and lesser Spotted Eagle, juvenile Imperial Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Short-toed Snake Eagle and white-eyed and Long-legged Buzzard. Chestnut-bellied and spotted Sandgrouse, Painted and Grey Francolin, Demoiselle, Quail, passerines, Sirkeer malkoha, rufous-tailed, crested and sykes' larks, red-rumped swallows, desert and variable wheatears are frequently sighted and many raptors visit specially laggar falcon, hobby, common kestrel, red-necked falcon, peregrine falcon, black-shouldered kite, shikra, Eurasian sparrow-hawk and occasionally northern goshawk. Massive roosts of montagu, pallid and marsh harrier and other grasslands dwellers are seen in fair numbers.
This unique grassland ecosystem, a biotic province of semi-arid bio-geographical zone, has a successful conservation program of the endangered Blackbuck, the Wolf and an exclusive Indian species, the Lesser Florican (a bustard) among others. As dusk descends on exquisite Velavadar, the wonderful day sadly comes to an end, and worldly affairs press us to return home to civilization, albeit unwillingly. The memory of this lovely little sanctuary absolutely unperturbed by grating urbanizations and showcasing the exquisite beauty of wild Nature remains forever etched in our minds compelling us to visit its wonders again and again.
Velavadar Black Buck National Park
Best time to visit: Between October and June
How to get there
Accommodation August 20, 2006
The Week of August 20, 2006
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Early one Saturday morning last winter armed with cameras and a packed
picnic lunch we set out to visit our wild neighbors, the majestic Black
Bucks. The first sight that greeted our eyes, after taking the left turn
on the highway as we drove down 10 Kms. through the narrow approach road
that cuts across the national park is the wide expanse of tall, dry
golden savannah grass blowing in the wind- it is as if our eyes
encounter a sea of gold with herds of wild fauna-the black bucks,
antelopes or nilgais grazing like studded gems, their lissome, lithe
bodies soft, lustrous and glistening like velvet in the sun, at peace
with their world. 
Sometimes in the early morning or late evening, the colorful ‘Kathi’
cowherds and shepherds adorned in homespun, heavily embroidered
kareya-chauni and traditional jewellery mingle naturally with the
scene as they herd their oxen through the winding narrow expanse. Their
cries to their animals an eternal assurance that life, in this sanctuary
at least, is as it always was, always have been – safe, secure and
peaceful. The cool and refreshing morning breeze, the reddish black
earth, the wide expanse of flat, open grasslands teeming with gold, the
grazing fauna, the sudden flights of birds, the tinkle of the cowbells,
the shrill cries of the cowherds, all add to the panorama of serenity
and timelessness in the lap of nature. 
Suddenly the stillness, the
indolence of the scene is broken by a leap out of the gold- two
frolicking fawns in pursuit of each other. The excitement builds as we
spot a herd of majestic blackbucks coursing the golden pastures and
catch a glimpse of the beautiful albino among them! As our ‘homely’
visit turns into an adventure we wait with bated breath to experience
the myriad emotions that this sanctuary has in store for us. 
The Velavadar Black Buck National Park, 65km north of Bhavnagar, in the
Bhal region of Saurashtra, Gujarat is the home of the majestic Indian
antelope. Hugging the sea coasts of the Gulf Of Khambhatt (Cambay) on
the south, surrounded by wastelands and agriculture fields on the
northern side, and set between two rivers, the park is spread over an
area which was primarily a "vidi" (a private grassland) of the Maharaja
of the ex-princely state of Bhavnagar. During the rule of the Maharajahs
of Bhavnagar, Velavadar was harvested for grass to feed the royal cattle
herds and the antelope was traditionally protected by the Kathi
community in Gujarat. The only tropical grassland in India to be given
the status of a national park, Velavadar National Park is a 36 sq.km.
patch of Savannah type grasslands and thorn scrub. The rich soil is
believed to have origins in the sea. Its semi-arid conditions, together
with overflowing of sea water from the high tidal zone of the Gulf of
Khambhat in the southern border of the park during monsoon create
habitats for the varied fauna. The Park has areas of dense grasslands,
sparse grasslands, shrubland, saline lands and high tidal mudflats.
Thirty-nine species of grasses and 46 species of sedges, shrubs and
trees, short and medium, represent the diversity of flora. Flat land,
dry grasses and herds of antelopes have always attracted visitors to
this park.
Another rare sight is that of the lesser florican who migrate here and
settle here be breed in the grasslands during the rainy season. The male
bird attracting the female is an unusual sight to watch. The male bird
first marks its territory and then begins the courtship display which is
a spectacular vertical leap up to a height of two meters, and which may
be repeated over 500 times in a day. Sarus cranes also
regularly
breed in the park during the monsoon season. This place has earned
popularity as the largest roosting ground for four species of migratory
harriers in the entire world. The Harrier roost here, one of the largest
in the world, reaches impressive proportions - more than 2000 birds have
been seen at a single site on a winter evening! 
