A 50-year-old woman was severely injured in yet another wolf attack in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district on Wednesday night. The victim, identified as Pushpa Devi, was attacked when she was sleeping at her residence in Raipur Korean Tepra village.
“The incident took place at 10 pm when she was sleeping. One of the children might have opened the door and it (the wolf) was hiding somewhere. It came and grabbed her neck,” her family member was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.
“The family members heard her cry and ran towards her. The people in the neighbourhood also gathered and then the wolf ran away,” he said.
Ms Devi is currently undergoing treatment in the Bahraich District Hospital.
Bahraich has been witnessing a spate of wolf attacks, in which at least eight people, including seven children, have been killed and more than 30 injured since mid-July.
UP’s ‘Operation Bhediya’ To Catch Wolves
Chief Minister Yogi Adityantath-led Uttar Pradesh has launched a campaign named ‘Operation Bhediya‘ to capture a pack of six wolves that have been terrorising 50 villages in Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district.
So far, five wolves have already been captured and efforts to catch the remaining man-eating wolf have been intensified.
A wolf, part of a pack that has killed several people, was captured in Bahraich district on Tuesday
Photo Credit: PTI
“The pack’s last wolf can be alpha wolf (leader of the pack). Till it is caught, the problem might persist. It is hoped that it will also be caught soon,” an officer said this week.
As many as 165 forest personnel and 18 shooters have been deployed to track the movement of the killer wolf. Thermal camera-equipped drones and snap cameras are being used to aid the search.
The district administration and forest department have installed solar and high-mast lights in open houses and villages.
Rabies, Distemper Virus Behind Wolf Attacks In Bahraich?
A disease such as rabies or canine distemper virus could be responsible for the wolf attacks in Bahraich, according to SP Yadav, the head of the International Big Cat Alliance. The exact reason, however, can only be determined through a proper analysis of the captured animals, he told the news agency PTI.
“It is a one-off incident. It is not a regular occurrence. There must be a rabid animal or something similar that triggered this issue. Normally, this does not happen. I believe it is the first such incident in the past 10 years. The forest department is conducting surveys to identify the problematic animal,” he said.
Mr Yadav, who has also headed Project Tiger and Project Cheetah, said that rabies and canine distemper virus can sometimes alter the behaviour of big cats, making them lose their fear of humans.
“This could be the cause. It is important to capture the animal, analyse the sample, and diagnose the issue properly to determine the reason,” he told PTI.
Mr Yadav said tigers occasionally become “man-eaters”, which also is not a common occurrence.
“Hunting requires a lot of energy. It is not easy. So, when they get older or are unable to hunt in the wild, they may target easy prey like cattle. Similarly, if their canines are broken or their paws injured, they may attack humans or livestock only when they are in distress,” he said, adding that tigers do not usually identify humans as prey.
“In most cases, the tiger confuses people crouching in fields with deer or other prey,” Mr Yadav added.