Three weeks after International Wolf Day was observed on August 13, the carnivores have emerged as the “most-hated predators” in the nondescript Bahraich district of northeastern Uttar Pradesh. At least six people have been killed by the wolves in Bahraich as the terror continues to grip the region.
On Tuesday, a team of experts from the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) left for the affected district to closely monitor the pattern and behaviour of wolves. However, WII experts strongly believe that the animals killing humans could be a crossbreed between dogs and wolves.
Bilal Ahmad, a senior scientist at WII, said, “If our prediction (based on previous studies) is anywhere close, then this new breed of wolves could be more perilous.”
The senior scientist feared that “the crossbreed of wolves could further pose a threat to the already dwindling numbers of Indian peninsular wolf”.
The fast-shrinking prey base of wolves could be a potential reason why they are attacking humans, particularly children who are an easy catch, added Bilal Ahmad. The carnivores depend on small animals like goats for food. Also typically wolf packs won’t leave their territory ranging between 20-25 sq km and prefer to hunt inside the zone. This suggests a possible man-animal conflict in the affected area.
Wolf is an endangered species under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. A research paper titled ‘Distribution, Status and Conservation of The Indian Peninsular Wolf’ jointly written by wildlife experts YS Jhala, Qamar Qureshi, Satish Kumar, and Swati Saini mentions the estimated number of wolves in the country. The researchers used scientific methods to arrive at these numbers.
The research paper suggests UP could have around 61 wolves occupying a 7,659 sq km area as habitat. The highest number of wolves was estimated in Madhya Pradesh (722), followed by Rajasthan (532), Gujarat (494), and Maharashtra (396).
A senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer presently serving in Uttarakhand said that wolves had been a problem in certain areas of Uttar Pradesh.
“I was tasked to eliminate man-eating wolves back in mid-1990 when I was posted at Pratapgarh as divisional forest officer,” he said, requesting anonymity. The official said besides Bahraich, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Fatehpur, and Raebareli districts had witnessed human-wolf conflict in which a couple of people had died.
(With inputs from Sunil Navprabhat)
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