BAHRAICH: In back-to-back strikes in less than 24 hours, wolves killed a toddler and injured two women in separate attacks in Hardi area of Uttar Pradesh‘s Bahraich district that has been in the grip of a wolf menace for two months now. As many as nine people, including eight children, have been killed and 20 others injured in wolf attacks in the region since March.
Following UP CM Yogi Adityanath‘s direction to state forest minister to deploy more forest guards and trap teams in the affected areas, forest department personnel are being transferred to Bahraich, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri divisions to set up camps in areas where movement of wolves has been reported.
At 3.35am on Monday, a wolf entered a house in Nauvan Garethi village of Mahsi subdivision and lifted 2.5-year-old Anjali. The predator bolted out and disappeared in the dark before the shocked mother, Meenu could raise an alarm. The child’s body was discovered two hours later, 1 km from the house, with both her hands missing.
Three hours later, a second attack took place in Kotia village, about 2 km away, where a wolf attacked another woman, Kamla Devi (70) while she was asleep in her veranda. Her screams alerted her family members, but by then, the wolf had already inflicted severe injuries. The woman is in a critical condition.
In the third attack, half-an-hour later, another woman Suman Devi (65), was attacked and injured by the wolf. “Soon after we were informed, a team of police and forest officials reached the site and took the injured women to hospital while the girl child’s body was taken for post-mortem examination,” Bahraich DFO Ajeet Pratap Singh said.
Bahraich district magistrate Monika Rani said that the authorities were having trouble catching the wolf as it was consistently changing its habitat. “The wolves are targeting a new village every time,” she said, appealing to the people to stay indoors and be alert.
“We have caught four wolves; two are left. Our team is continuously patrolling the areas. We are trying our best to catch them as soon as possible,” she said.
Chief forest conservator (central zone) Renu Singh took stock of the situation. “Drones are being flown continuously. Two wolves are still out, and we are trying to catch them soon,” she said.
Authorities are using loudspeakers mounted on vehicles to advise residents to stay indoors, keep their children inside, and lock their doors at night. Markets are shut, streets are deserted even in daytime and normal life is completely thrown out of gear in Mahsi subdivision.
On Sunday, a wolf attacked a child sleeping beside his mother in Hardi Darhia village. The wolf grabbed the child by his neck, but the mother bravely fought the predator off and managed to save her son. In another incident, a 50-year-old man was attacked by a wolf a few hours later the same night.
In response to the growing terror caused by the wolves in Bahraich, the forest department and district administration have sought the state govt’s permission and authorisation to eliminate the man-eating wolves. If approved, they will deploy shooters and tranquilizers to shoot the wolves at sight.
However, many villagers are upset. Balke Ram, a neighbour of the latest victim to fall prey to wolf attacks in Bahraich, said a wolf was spotted quite a few times near their houses and when forest department officials were informed, they asked for video proof. “We were awake when we spotted something near our house and, assuming that it was a dog, chased it away. When I saw it running towards the fields, I noticed it was a wolf and asked everyone if their children were accounted for. Then we got to know that Anjali was missing,” Balke Ram added.