Blackbuck National Park located in Velavadar of Bhavnagar district which is home to many species like blackbucks, Indian gray wolves, hyenas and thousands of birds, has set up large elevated structures and mounds of soil, for blackbucks to save them from annual floods.
This National park spread across a land of 35 square kilometres also serves as a roosting ground for harriers from Africa, Europe and Siberia. This national park lies in low lying region known as Bhal which has many rivers of Saurashtra region. Up to 70% of this national park gets flooded every year in Amreli, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Botad as the rivers submerges these areas and surrounding villages.
Blackbucks find it difficult to move in marshlands and so they start relocating to the internal mud tracks built by the forest department after it starts raining. They generally prefer avoiding water but can swim short distances. As per the official records, a total of 111 blackbucks died due to drowning and falling prey to street dogs while heading to the villages to flee the floods. In 2019-20, 38 blackbucks died because of drowning and dog attack whereas in 2021-22 the number fell to 16 as the rainfall recorded was lower than the previous year. The forest department has created nine such elevated structures or mounds of soil and a linear platform.
