New Delhi:

While the Uttar Pradesh government is concerned over attacks by wolves in some districts including Bahraich, state minister Baby Rani Maurya has given a bizarre explanation over why it is not easy to control the menace swiftly.

In Jhansi, answering reporters’ questions on the wolf attacks, Ms Maurya said the wolves are not being easily caught as the animals were “more clever than the government.”

“Many teams are engaged in searching for the wolves. We will find them. But it is taking time because the wolves are more clever than the government. We are looking into the matter. The wolves will be caught soon,” she said, adding the state forest minister is personally handling the search.

An eight-year-old boy was injured in a wolf attack while playing outside his home in Mahsi tehsil in Bahraich today, his family has said.

The boy, injured on his face, has been hospitalised, a government doctor said. In the last two months, Bahraich district has recorded eight deaths, including seven children in a series of attacks by wolves while nearly three dozen others were left injured, according to official figures.

The latest attack took place on Thursday evening at Golwa village of Mahsi tehsil — a rural area closer to the city, but away from the areas of all the previous attacks.

“The child was playing near the door of the house. Then the wolf knocked him down and injured him. As soon as the wolf knocked him down, the child started screaming. When we all heard the scream, we ran shouting. Hearing the noise, the wolf left the child and ran away. We all have seen the wolf running away,” the boy’s mother said.

The local medical college’s principal Dr Sanjay Khatri said the child was attacked from behind by the wolf.

“He is being treated after being admitted to the medical college. The child has suffered super facial injuries on the left side of his cheek and neck, and has been given two stitches. The child’s condition is out of danger,” Mr Khatri said.

Since March, wolves have been attacking children and adults in the Mahsi tehsil area of Bahraich.

The attacks increased from July 17 during the rainy season and till date, a total of eight people, including seven children, have died due to these attacks.

New Delhi:

The fear generated by the wolf pack of Bahraich is being felt in other parts of the country. After 8 people, including 7 children and a woman, were killed by wolves over around 45 days, neighbouring Bihar is seeing a panic reaction.

In Bihar’s Maksudpur, a jackal was brutally killed because of the fear generated by sensational reports of the “killer wolves” of Bahraich. The jackal — spotted in the ruins of the Maksudpur fort — created panic. The animal was cornered and beaten to death.

This has left conservationists concerned about the reporting of such events.

“Media has a huge responsibility to stop the spread of unnecessary panic… The recent spate of alleged killings of children by wolves in Bahraich and the extensive coverage it has got in national and regional media are responsible for such barbaric acts in places that are hundreds of kilometers away,” said Dr Anish Andheria, President and CEO – Wildlife Conservation Trust.

“There many wrong things about this incident – a) mindless clobbering of an animal in cold blood, b) the criminals have mistaken a jackal for a wolf, c) the act highlights absolute disrespect towards the law [Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972)], d) video-graphing the entire act shows sadistic tendencies in the perpetrator/s,” he said.

Golden jackals are fairly common across India and are distinctly different from the other canid species, the Indian grey wolf.  

Compared to these wolves, the jackals have shorter legs, tail and snout. They are distinctively smaller in size as well. Both are found mainly in grasslands and scrublands. Unfortunately, the range lies outside protected areas, as in UP’s Bahraich and it is a victim of unchecked development and shrinking territory.

Indian scientist and former Dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dr YV Jhala, an expert on Indian wolves, said: “People have been misinformed by the media which is blowing it out of proportion and context. It’s time to take responsibility and not sensationalise and exaggerate. Simple solution to reducing the attacks and deaths is to be vigilant, take care of children always accompanied by adults, sleep indoors with doors closed or blocked with thorn hedge”.

The lack of prey base is another challenge in the area.

“There is no natural wild prey in the area,” said Dr Jhala. “Children are vulnerable to all predators including dogs if they are not looked after carefully,” he said.

Poor housing and sanitation facilities due to extreme poverty, compounded with lack of parental care (because of absentee and working parents) in this part of the country create a unique situation, where it becomes easier to kill children compared to livestock.

In Uttar Pradesh, officials have caught four wolves so far under “Operation Bhediya”.

The Bahraich district magistrate, and senior police and forest officials, have been leading the ongoing efforts along with divisional forest officers of four districts. High-frequency drone cameras have been used to monitor the wolf pack. The forest department has also been using elephant dung and urine to divert the wolves’ route when the attack occurred.

Officials said on Sunday that they have detected the presence of two wolves through drones and would capture them by today or tomorrow.

The Indian grey wolf, a sub species of the grey wolf, is highly endangered, like the tiger and is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.