Renewed wolf attacks: Two more girls attacked in two villages; it’s a big, bad wolf: Expert
Two girls were injured in suspected wolf attacks in Mahsi Tehsil, prompting panic. The forest department continues to search for the culprit wolf.
When the fifth wolf was captured on Tuesday, locals and the district administration heaved a collective sigh of relief, but perhaps a little too soon.
Panic prevailed in the Mahsi Tehsil area after two minor girls in two villages were injured in alleged wolf attacks. The attacks took place late on Tuesday night and in the wee hours of Wednesday. However, the forest department is yet to confirm that the incidents were indeed wolf attacks.
According to sources, one Shivani, 12, daughter of Kishori Yadav, a resident of Bhawanipur under the Khairighat police station area was attacked by a wolf around 5 AM on Wednesday. She was said to be dragged by a wolf some distance from the house.
Listening to the screams of Shivani, family members woke up and ran towards the animal with sticks and rod. The animal ran towards the paddy fields leaving the girl at the spot. The girl was admitted to CHC Mahsi from where she was referred to Bahraich Medical College.
Gram Pradhan Bhawanipur, Phuleraj Chauhan said that according to family members, Shivani was mauled by a wolf and sustained severe injuries on her neck and head.
Meanwhile, in another incident, 13-year-old Suman, daughter of late Laxmi Narayan, was attacked by a wolf in Gadariyanpurwa hamlet of Maikupurwa gram panchayat under the Hardi police station area around 11 PM on Tuesday. The girl was rushed to CHC Mahsi from where she was referred to Bahraich Medical College.
Meanwhile, a member of the family of the victim on Wednesday blamed the forest department team for not installing doors in houses of villages.
Sunil Kumar, the family member, said that the wolf dragged the child out of the house to the road.
“A wolf came here at night and dragged the child out of the house to the road...A boy was sitting there. When the wolf brought the girl there, he called out. The wolf was alarmed and he ran away after leaving the girl there. The wolf had been to the village 3-4 times earlier too. The forest department team has not come yet. The door has not been installed here; if there were doors, then the incident would not have taken place,” he said.
Village head Anoop Singh said that along with other villagers, he saw the wolf running away, so there was no doubt that the attacking animal was a wolf. He said the girl was sleeping along with her mother on the ground when she was attacked by a wolf.
He said that the wolf dragged the girl 30 meters from her house. Listening to her screams, Suman’s brother woke up and ran towards the animal. Later, all the villagers started searching for the animal and the girl was rushed to CHC Mahsi, Anoop added.
Divisional forest officer (DFO), Bahraich, Ajit Pratap Singh, has confirmed that two incidents of man-animal conflict arose in the area. He said that teams have been combing the area to identify and trap the animal. He said drones were also being deployed in the area to track the animal.
VK Singh, former wildlife warden of the Allahabad (now Prayagraj) region, who had headed the eight-month-long wolf operation in Jaunpur in 1997, said the main culprit is still on the loose.
Although a pack of six wolves had been seen in drone camera footage, there may be an isolated individual or some other packs in the area. He advised that there was a need to expand the ground-combing operation and targeted villages should be identified to prevent wolf attacks.
It has to be understood in which direction the pattern of attack is moving and after that the nearby targeted villages should be identified and then put on high alert.
Singh said that at present, paddy crops are being grown in the fields and as the length of paddy crops increases, this problem will increase further because animals will find easy places to hide.
The forest department teams had captured the fifth wolf from the pack of six wolves on Tuesday. Earlier, the forest department had already trapped four wolves between August 3 to August 29 but the attacks could not be stopped.
The lone wolf
VK Singh, former wildlife warden of the Allahabad (now Prayagraj) region, said that the attacks will continue till the main culprit is trapped. Singh said that if an animal was dragging a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old girl, it means that it was a strong and big animal.
All the animals that have been caught so far seem to be small in size and weak, whereas the animal that dragged the 12 or 13-year-old girls must be big and strong. He said, it seems that not the whole pack but only one animal might be the main culprit.
SHARIQ RAIS SIDDIQUI and agencies