Outlook Web Desk
For months now, many villages in UP’s Bahraich district have been on edge as wolves have killed 10 people, including nine children, while dozens others are injured.
A 3-year-old child was killed in a wolf attack on Monday while two woman sustained injuries in another similar incident reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich.
Wildlife experts believe wolves attack humans either when they are provoked, like their pups are hurt or killed. Besides, they attack humans when they feel scarcity of their natural prey.
The authorities said there was a pack of six wolves that were attacking people. Out of them, four wolves have been captured while two others remain untraceable.
The UP government launched 'Operation Bhediya' to capture the wolves in Bahraich under which 16 teams of forest department equipped with drone cameras and thermal mapping technology to locate and capture the wolves. It also involved using firecrackers to guide the wolf to a specific location where it was tranquillized and subsequently transported to a zoo.
The forest department officials are burning elephant dung to create a scent that simulates the presence of elephants to drive away the wolves in Bahraich. Wolves expert believe tend to avoid large animals like elephants.
The officials are also using colourful teddy dolls soaked in children’s urine as a bait to capture ‘hunter wolves’. These dolls have been strategically placed near the riverbanks, close to the wolves' resting places and dens.
Historically, even British had attempted to eliminate wolves from Bahraich’s Mahsai tehsil, even offering rewards for killing them. However, despite these efforts, the wolves managed to survive and continue to inhabit the area.
The villagers in Bahraich are expressing their resentment with the administration as they say that despite spotting wolf or its footprints many times and informing forest department, they are asked for video proof, reports stated.