Located in Gujarat State, in western India, Velavadar is only a few kilometres from the Gulf of Cambay, and is home to a large population of India’s endemic blackbuck.
However, the park is most notable for being one of the few places in the world with a healthy wolf population – the endangered Indian wolf is the number one predator here. Other animals of note include fox, jackal, jungle cat and wild pig.
Velavadar’s birdlife is extensive, with endangered birds like Houbara bustard, lesser florican, common crane, sarus white stork, white pelican, and Montagu, pallid and marsh harrier. A plethora of raptors includes steppe, tawny, greater and lesser spotted eagle, imperial eagle, Bonelli’s eagle, short-toed snake eagle, and both white-eyed and long-legged buzzard. Sandgrouse, larks and other grassland birds are seen in numbers, and the harrier roost is one of the largest in the world. Of particular note is the lesser florican, which migrates here to breed during the rainy season, when the males perform a spectacular courtship display involving enormous leaps into the air.
Velavadar lies 70 kilometres north of Bhavnagar airport, and en route you can visit Palitana, a magnificent complex of 863 ancient temples on Shatrunjaya Hill.
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