Introduction

The sudden wolf attacks spread a streak of terror amongst the villagers of Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh in the recent past. As per the official sources, from March 2024 to September 2024, a pack of six wolves killed nine children and a woman in the affected area. At the same time, as many as 34 people belonging to 32 villages were injured by the wild animals. It was believed to be a pack of six wolves, five of which had been captured by the forest and wildlife staff while the sixth, a female wolf, was chased and killed by the people on 6th October. According to the forest officials, no other wolf activity is visible in the affected areas. Taking a serious note of these wild attacks, the government of U.P. launched “Operation Bhediya” to capture the six wolves.

Wolves as Protected Species

As per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, wolves are a protected species and are classified as a Schedule 1 animal under the said Act. As such, legal action will be taken against those involved in the killing of wolves.

Geographical Location of the Affected Area

Located on the river basin of the Ghagra River, most villages are affected by floods. The geographical condition of the area is such that only sugarcane plant that grows to a certain height, giving ample cover to wild animals and their prey, grows. Grasslands near the river basins are considered a natural habitat of wolves. Hence, the affected villages are located near the natural habitats of wolves. Due to flooding in the area, sowing paddy or wheat crops does not yield good results whereas after sowing sugarcane once, the farmer harvests it thrice and it gives good yield even in adverse conditions.1

Immediate Causes

1. According to the former wildlife warden and an expert on wolf-human conflicts, VK Singh, “Wolves live near river basins at the fringe of villages. They rarely attack human beings as they usually hunt rabbits, rats and other small animals. Both wolves and jackals also eat dead animals thrown by humans on the outskirts of the village and there was acceptance of these animals as they rarely attack human beings". (Ibid.) However, ‘such situations arise almost exclusively when humans compete with predators for natural resources by converting wild habitats to farmland, cutting forests for timber, or hunting wild herbivores for bush meat, etc.’ Experts feel that these factors are likely to be at play behind the current attacks as well.2
2. Besides that, there are other triggers too. Sometimes, wild predators being incentivised by the ease of hunting humans after an accidental kill amount to the classical explanation for an old and injured carnivore turning on humans who ‘can't outrun it, claw, or bite back'.3
3. In their research paper of 1997 studying the similar wolf attacks in districts Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur in U.P., Y.V. Jhala and D.K. Sharma also pointed to the loss of wild prey due to hunting the presence of too many ‘unescorted children’ who were more vulnerable to attacks than well-protected livestock, multiple false claims for compensation, and the fanning of mass hysteria to feed the myth of manai (werewolf).4 In the Bahraich case also, nine children were killed out of ten casualties. In the currently affected areas, people sleep in the open. Most of them don't pay attention to the importance of doors in their houses as they have ‘nothing to lose if a thief comes'. The absence of doors - due to poverty - has made several people vulnerable to attack by wild animals, and in some cases, the habit of sleeping in the open to beat the heat.5

Wolf Attacks in the Realm of History

1. In the second half of the 19th century, wolves matched the tigers in killing people, as per the records of the British officials. Captain B. Rogers of the erstwhile Bengal Army recorded that wolves and tigers killed 4,287 and 4,218 people in lower Bengal alone in 1866.6
2. After a decade, Surgeon General Joseph Fayrer recorded that the wolves killed 1,018 people as compared to 828 people by tigers, primarily in North India, in 1875.7
3. It is surprising to note that as per British records, human fatalities due to wolf attacks were rare in Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the Deccan plateau, even though there was abundance of such species in these regions and the loss of livestock to wolves was commonplace. Nevertheless, the government-sponsored bounty hunting killed an estimated 1 lakh wolves, mostly in the North-West Provinces and Awadh (later United Provinces), between 1871 and 1916, as per the records.
4. In the winter of 1985-86, a pack of four adult wolves killed 17 children in Astha, Madhya Pradesh. All the four -two males and two females-were subsequently killed, and local tribals adopted two cubs.8
5. Five wolf packs were blamed for the death of 60 children in the Hazaribagh West, Koderma, and Latehar forest divisions of undivided Bihar between April 1993 and April 1995.9
6. In 1996, wolf attacks involved 76 children in Pratapgarh, Sultanpur and Jaunpur districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Studies revealed that these attacks involved a single alpha male or his pack.10
7. 10 children died in wolf attacks during February-August 2003 in Balrampur district adjoining Bahraich district in U.P.

Controversy Regarding Wolves, Dogs or Wolf-dogs

Questions have been raised by several experts whether these attacks were carried out by wolves, dogs or wolf-dogs. They are of the view that the possibility of village dogs or the wolf-dogs hybrids is always there. However, they think that only proper scientific investigation will ascertain the true species of the animal in question. This needs to be done every time such attacks occur.

Operation Bhediya

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the U.P. Government launched Operation Bhediya to capture all six wolves. With the help of thermal drones and camera traps, the forest department captured the five wolves. The other one was killed by the villagers. Further, security personnel were deployed in 35 affected villages of Mahsi tehsil. Forest teams from seven districts were pressed into service to trap the wolves. Gram Panchayat buildings and primary schools were turned into night shelters for people in remote villages. The captured wolves were sent to different zoos in the State.

Besides that, as per the statement of Block Development Officer Mahsi, doors were being fixed in the houses of the needy. Also, solar lights were installed in the affected villages.

Conclusion

The recent calamity of wolf attacks in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh is a grim reminder of the fact that the occurrences of wildlife-human conflict will never stop until we cease to encroach upon the natural habitats of wild animals. With the man-made imposition of restrictions on their grazing and hunting areas, the wild animals enter into the realm of humans, causing damages to the lives of humans as well as to the crops. Further, the villagers residing in the villages adjacent to the forest areas or the river basins must take care of their security and well-being. Lastly, the lacemakers owe the duty to find a permanent solution to the menacing problem of the wildlife-human conflict. The balance between human life and wildlife needs to be maintained at any cost.

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References:

1. Shariq Rais Siddiqui, Life on fringes, abject poverty connects victims, Hindustan Times, Sep 4, 2024.
2.  Jay Mazoomdaar, Attacks and deaths in Bahraich: Why and when wolves turn on humans, The Indian Express, Sep 4, 2024.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Shariq Rais Siddiqui, Life on fringes, abject poverty connects victims, Hindustan Times, Sep 4, 2024.
6.  Jay Mazoomdaar, Attacks and deaths in Bahraich: Why and when wolves turn on humans, The Indian Express, Sep 4, 2024.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.