Wolves that have terrorised Bahraich district for the past month struck again early Sunday morning, injuring two people in separate incidents, including a nine-year-old boy.
The first incident occurred on Saturday night in Nakahi village, where a wolf attacked Paras (9) as he slept outside his home. The second incident happened around 4 am in Darhiya Gram Sabha, where Punnilal (55), also sleeping outside, was presumably attacked by a wolf.
DFO Bahraich, Ajit Singh, reported that both victims are stable and have been discharged from the hospital. “We received information about the attack on the boy at 2 am on Sunday morning.
The child’s mother informed us that they were sleeping outside when the animal attempted to carry off the child. The family managed to save him after a struggle with the animal. The villagers were unable to recognise the wolf and were unaware of its presence,” Singh said.
He confirmed the first attack was by a wolf after personally inspecting the area and finding pug marks. However, he mentioned that he would visit the second site to verify if it was indeed a wolf attack.
“The villagers reported that an animal attacked the man while he was sleeping outside, but this needs verification,” he said.
Singh said the wolves have generally not repeated attacks in the same area, except for one case.
However, the incidents have been occurring within the area under drone surveillance. He admitted that locating and capturing the wolves is becoming increasingly difficult due to the challenging terrain, which includes waterlogged patches and sugarcane fields. “We often have to wade through water to reach the right spots,” Singh explained.
Regarding the drone monitoring, Singh said they form three grids near the Ghagra river and conduct daily drone surveillance. Of a pack of six wolves, four have already been captured by the forest team.
The attacks began increasing on July 17 during the rainy season, resulting in seven deaths, including six children, and about 30 injuries. It was hoped that the attacks would decrease after the capture of the fourth, and most aggressive, wolf on Thursday.
Chief Wildlife Warden and PCCF Wildlife Sanjay Srivastava said wolves aim for children and small animals.
“In the night they move out of their dens and place themselves close to the victim. They eye the neck of the child and in one attack they broke the spine of a boy. At times mothers remained unaware when the child was lifted by the animal”, he added.
Singh said although over fifty villages were impacted by these wolves yet the worst affected were Makkapurwa, Nakwa, Kulela, Purwibasti Gadariya and Diwanpurwa.
