Bahraich wolves: Hunt for elusive duo continues
Mistaken wolf sightings have teams dashing across the dist, expending time, energy and resources but to no effect
Amidst extremely humid conditions, forest teams went through muddy and waterlogged routes to locate the two elusive wolves on Saturday, after receiving information about wolf sightings from three different places.
However, the teams had not found success anywhere till the filing of this report on Saturday evening.
The palpable panic and fear among the local populace is to such a degree that they are easily mistaking jackals and wolves. Seeing any animal that looks like a wolf, villagers immediately inform the forest department and taking every information seriously, the forest department teams go from place to place with full preparation but despite putting in hours of effort, they find nothing.
Giving details about Saturday’s operation, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Sanjay Pathak, said that on receiving information that two wolves were seen in village Pure Dildar, a forest team equipped with three drone cameras, trapping nets, sharp shooters along with the police reached the spot. The team cordoned off the area for about three hours. But after hours of searching and extensive efforts, it was discovered that the two animals seen by the villagers were not wolves but jackals.
Pathak said two more such search operations were conducted in Galkara and Pachdevri villages after receiving information of wolf presence in the area on Saturday.
Pathak said all the teams have been put on a high alert and the number of shooters has been increased from nine to 18. However, he said eliminating the animals was still the last option. He said that during the operation, such a huge crowd gathers in an attempt to surround an animal that even shooting requires extreme caution, therefore, every aspect has to be considered before shooting.
Divisional forest officer (DFO), Bahraich, Ajit Pratap Singh, said that there has been no report of wolf attacks in the last four days. He said some people had killed a dog after it attacked and injured three people in Yadavpur village on Friday.
Ten people including nine children were killed in wolf attacks in the Mahsi Tehsil area of Bahraich in the past few months. Out of the total 10 killings, seven happened within 47 days between July 17 to September 2.
Apart from these casualties, around four dozen people were injured in wolf attacks in different parts of the area located along the Ghagra River basin under the Mahsi Tehsil. Even though the forest teams had captured four wolves out of the pack of six, attacks continue in the area.
A heavy police force, along with PAC and forest teams have been deployed in the area. Panchayat Bhawan and primary schools have been turned into night shelters to protect people who were living in unsafe places in the area. About 35 affected villages were divided into three sectors and separate teams have been given responsibility for each sector.
The district administration has provided financial assistance of ₹5 lakh each to the families of the six children who died in wolf attacks. Meanwhile, compensation could not be provided to two other victims whose cause of death was yet to be confirmed, said the district information officer.
District magistrate Monica Rani said that an amount of ₹5,400 has been transferred to the accounts of each of the 10 people injured in the wolf attacks.
SHARIQ RAIS SIDDIQUI