In a beautiful video shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thousands of blackbucks were spotted crossing a road in a national park in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district.
The video was originally tweeted by the Gujarat Department of Information that showed the enormous herd at the Velavadar Blackbuck National Park. Prime Minister retweeted the video, describing the sighting as "excellent!"
The department tweeted, "Over 3,000 blackbucks were sighted crossing the road in Bhavnagar's Blackbuck National Park."
According to range forest officer Ankur Patel of the national park, blackbucks are constantly roaming from one location to another, and the video was taken a few days ago by a Gram Rakshak Dal (GRD) jawan stationed at a police check post on the Dholera-Bhavnagar highway.
According to Patel, the road in the video connects the highway to Velavadar village and the National Park.
"The forest department owns the area on both sides of that internal road. The GRD jawan noticed the blackbucks crossing the road in the morning while returning home from his night shift and caught the incredible scene on his phone, which he then shared on social media" according to the official.
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Blackbucks are protected animals, and hunting them has been prohibited since 1972 under the Wildlife Act. They were once common across the Indian subcontinent, but their numbers have fallen owing to overhunting, deforestation, and habitat degradation, and they are now listed as an endangered species.
The blackbuck population in the Velavadar National Park, an hour's drive north of Bhavnagar, is well-known. Aside from the blackbucks, the park is home to a diverse range of bird and animal species. Several migratory bird species, including pelicans and flamingos, can also be seen here.
According to the official, there are around 3,000 blackbucks in the national park and 4,000 in the reserve forest areas and wastelands nearby.