Bahraich attacks: Foresters seem clueless about the attacker, wolf or wolf-dog hybrid
In the past one month, the department has caught five wolves and said that the sixth wolf of the pack is responsible for the attack
An 11-year-old girl was attacked on Tuesday night by an animal, which locals claimed was a wolf, in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich. Despite catching five wolves, the attacks on children remain unabated in the area.
Such incidents indicate that the UP forest department’s effort to catch the animal responsible for such attacks hasn’t yet yielded the required results.
In the past one month, the department has caught five wolves and said that the sixth wolf of the pack is responsible for the attack.
The attacks continue to happen and now the authorities believe that they could be looking for the wrong animal.
Animal experts have repeatedly attributed the attack to a wolf-dog hybrid who could be roaming around in villages unnoticed.
To differentiate a wolf-dog hybrid from a dog, who are close descendants of the wolves, is not easy. It appears no effort has been made to search for a wolf-dog hybrid, who could have mingled with the local dog population.
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However, there is a reason to blame wolves for the attack.
For a wolf attack, there is government compensation whereas no money is provided for a wolf-dog or feral dog attack, according to government rules, unless the district authorities approves.
In 1996, the eastern UP districts of Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur reported a large number of deaths caused allegedly by wolves.
An investigation by Wildlife Institute scientists led by V Y Jhala and Dinesh Kumar Sharma showed that many of the deaths were not by wild animals and were claimed either to settle old enmity or get compensation.
“Old enmities were also setlled and blame put on the “Manai” (werewolf),” the authors note in the paper published in 1997.
In some cases where an animal attack was found, the authors had said that an individual animal was involved as the carcass was not strewn apart.
“The remains were mostly intact and not strewn about, which meant a pack was not at work but a single animal,” they wrote.
In at least six of the ten suspected wolf attacks in Bahraich, the carcass has been found to be intact, indicating that one animal was involved. Even though the forest department claimed that canine marks were found on the victims indicating presence of wolves, experts said canine of a wolf and a wolf-dog hybrid could be similar.
It is not yet known whether the forest department has done forensic analysis of the canine marks of the caught wolves with the marks found on the victims. Such an analysis could confirm whether the caught wolves were the real culprits or not.
There is little information shared by the UP government on the conclusion that a particular pack of wolves was involved.
Even though there is no clarity over the animal accused of killing ten peeople in Bahraich district, the villagers are living in fear and demanding installation of doors, construction of brick rooms and night vigil. Some villagers have even sent their children to their relatives home for safety.
The UP forest department, which had initiated “Operation Bhediya” to apprehend wolves allegedly responsible for attacks in 25-30 villages under Mahsi tehsil, has also installed cameras in Sikandarpur village around six caves, which local villagers claim to be the habitat of wolves.
The villages impacted are inhabited by poor people, as is the case of people living in and around most forests in India, who bear the maximum brunt of human-animal conflict.
For villagers of Bahraich, their poverty has become a reason for their fear, even as the forest department continues its chase for the animal.