Bahraich wolf attacks: Life on fringes, abject poverty connects victims

Poverty is the thread that strings together the tragic deaths of 10 people in wolf attacks, almost all children, in the Bahraich district. Geographical conditions of the area is the second factor, where only sugarcane – a plant that grows to a certain height, giving ample cover to wild animals and their prey – grows.
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.
Now, block development officer, Mahsi, Umakant, said that doors were being fixed in houses of the needy. Besides, solar lights were also installed in the affected villages.
On March 10, a wolf took 3-year-old Sayra from Mishram Purwa when she was sleeping along with her mother in the open. Her body was never recovered.
On March 28, a wolf lifted a one year-old-child Chhotu from Nayapurwa. Akhilesh Verma, a resident of the area said his house was situated near the sugarcane field and there was no door in the house. The mutilated body of the boy was found near a sugarcane field, which means the wolf must have sneaked from the nearby area.
Located on the river basin of the Ghaghra River most villages that have seen killing by wolves here are affected by flood. People sleep in the open and most do not pay attention to the importance of doors in their houses as they have nothing to lose if a thief comes.
Even those who got financial assistance to build houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, constructed houses but thought of putting in the doors and windows later.
Kishan, 8, son of Siddhu was sleeping with his brother and sister on either side in a room in Kolaikla village when a wolf chose to attack him.
Describing the incident, Siddhu said, “Kishan’s mother was sleeping in the courtyard along with our 5-month-old daughter, while I was sleeping on another cot. Crossing three cots, the wolf entered the room calmly as there was no door and picked up Kishan.”
Life outside the core village areas has put several lives at risk even with wolves who have been living with humans mostly unnoticed till now. But the families that are not part of the core village have seen deaths as wolves find their little ones easy prey, especially in houses that don’t even have a door.
According to data, July saw major attacks by wolves. Pratibha 2, fell prey to a wolf in Nakwa village. The wolf took her while she was sleeping with her mother, Kajri and father Rakesh Kumar, outside her house early on July 28. Her mutilated body was found in a sugarcane field.
Rakesh said they were sleeping in the courtyard of the house when a wolf lifted his daughter. He said that before they could do anything, the wolf escaped from the scene. They launched a search but could only find the mutilated body of his daughter.
Similar is the story of Akhtar 3 who was killed in Makkapurwa on July 17.
Wolf attacked and lifted Khushboo, 3, from her house in Nauwan Garethi village and this because there was no door to keep the child safe.
Village head Gurdattsingh Garethi, Uma Kant Dixit said, “Not a single door was there in the house of Kamal, father of Anjali.”
Stating that the biggest reason behind the attacks in a particular Tehsil area is its geographical situation, former wildlife warden and an expert of wolf-human conflicts VK Singh said, “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 wolf 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.”
The map of Mahsi development block, shows a large number of villages located along the Ghaghra River Basin.
Sisaiya Chudamani where an 8-year-old boy named Kishan was killed in a wolf attack on August 3 is located on the bank of the River. Similarly, most of the villages which saw wolf attacks like Bambhauri, Nathuwapur, Nakwa, Kotiya, Sikandarpur, Chandpaiya were located on the river basin of the Ghaghra. Grasslands near the river basins are considered a natural habitat of wolves. Hence, these villages are located near the natural habitat of wolves.
Due to geographical conditions priority is being given to sugarcane cultivation instead of other crops, the risk is high.
Yogeshwar Singh, a resident of Sisaiya Chudamani, said villagers used to cultivate sugarcane crops in the area. He said many villages were affected due to flooding in the area. Hence 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.
Experts say being small in size, wolves easily hide in the sugarcane crop and then attack the closest house or village after sneaking from the sugarcane field.
DFO Ajit Singh said in most of the cases wolves had lifted children from inside or from the courtyard of a house during night.
VK Singh who had headed the 1997 seven operation of wolf attack in which 42 children were killed and 13 wolves were gunned down said, wolves rarely attack human beings. He said it is just an act of aberrant behaviour of the animal.
He said sometimes females or cubs of a pack can’t go to hunt. In that situation male wolf goes out to hunt and the human child is the easiest prey. He said humans are the only species in the animal kingdom who bleeds even due to a minor scratch. Once they eat human flesh, the pack slowly gets addicted to that flesh and they start hunting human children.
Should they be killed?
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) executive officer Dabeer Hasan said wolf is an endangered species and categorised as schedule-I animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Moreover they play an important role in our ecosystem as ‘key stone species’. At present there are about 3,000 wolves in India. Hence, killing them is not a good idea at this stage.
He said that even chief minister Yogi Adityanath has said that killing the animal should be the last option and this was not the last stage, he added. He said first we try to capture the animal categorised as schedule-I. When hue and cry or people’s anger exceeds limits and incidents cannot be stopped, then such decisions could be taken.
He said that a good team should be deployed instead of a team with more numbers. Wolves must be attacking within 20 to 25 square kilometres. Hence, five or six teams should be deployed in 5 to 4 square kilometres to track movement of the culprit wolf.
GP Singh an executive consultant at Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) said now we have the latest technology like infrared and thermal drone cameras and the forest department has already captured four wolves. It would be better to trap them with the use of tactics and technology.
Shariq Rais Siddiqui