Forest department strikes back: Two wolves shot and injured in Bahraich, efforts to trace ‘the last one of the pack’

In the past two days alone, the wolves injured seven people, including six minors, prompting the Forest Department to launch a focused operation to neutralize the threat, officials said.

During the ongoing operation, the officials said that they discovered that a pack of four wolves had been responsible for the assaults.

“We recently shot and injured another adult wolf because, in some video footage, we noticed an adult animal limping. This wolf had not been seen in recent days, and its movements could not be tracked through our electronic monitoring devices,” said Ram Singh Yadav, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Bahraich.

He added that, based on information from various sources, including electronic gadgets, the recent attacks were carried out by two sub-adult wolves, approximately one year old, who are part of the same pack.

“These sub-adults have been attacking people across different areas separately. Our shooters claim to have shot and injured one of them on Saturday,” DFO Singh said.

Singh further said that the full situation will become clear only after the two injured wolves are located and accounted for. He said that the forest department has now ramped up efforts to trace the last remaining wolf.

How villagers cope with the threat

Besides Kaiserganj, parts of Mahasi tehsil have also been affected by wolf attacks.

In six villages spread across roughly a 20-kilometer radius, many residents, whose houses either lack proper doors or have very limited space, forcing some family members, usually adults, to sleep outside, have built elevated platforms, or machans, for safety.

A visit to these villages reveals several such machans outside homes. Some villagers have even tied empty tin containers to the platforms so that if a wolf is spotted, they can beat the tins with sticks to alert others.

These six villages, home to nearly one lakh people, are located approximately 45 kilometers from the Bahraich district headquarters.

Since the attacks began, the health department has established a temporary OPD in a government building at Manjhla Taukli, the worst-affected village in Kaiserganj tehsil.

Forest dept steps up action

The Forest Department, which is working day and night to catch the animal, has divided the affected area into zones, set up cages, and deployed thermal drones, camera traps, nets, and other monitoring equipment, with guidance from locals.

Officials said six special teams under senior officers have been formed, and to improve night-time safety, 1,437 LED streetlights, 660 regular lights, and 91 solar lights have been installed across the area.

During his visit to Bahraich on September 27, the Chief Minister directed the Forest Department to capture the wolf responsible for recent attacks or, if that was not possible, to deploy shooters to eliminate it for public safety.

In September last year, a pack of six wolves at Mahasi tehsil in Kaiserganj, attacked at night, killing eight children and injuring 18 others, all minors. The Forest Department responded with ‘Operation Bhediya,’ reportedly capturing six wolves linked to the attacks.

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