Bahraich: Months-long 'wolf terror' ends; last animal beaten to death
The villagers in the Mahsi region of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, have killed the final member of a six-wolf pack that had been terrorizing their community for months. The last wolf was beaten to death on Saturday while attempting to hunt a goat in Tamachpur village. Following this incident, the forest department recovered the body of the wolf and is awaiting post-mortem results to determine further action.
Forest department's efforts to apprehend last wolf
Bahraich District Forest Officer, Ajit Singh, stated that the department had been trying to catch this last wolf for many days. "When we got information that there was an animal body lying in a village...we immediately went there with our team and saw that a dead wolf was lying there since there were marks of wounds on his body," Singh said. He added that it is possible these villagers or some other people killed it and further investigation is underway.
'Operation Bhediya' and its efforts to capture wolves
The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department had initiated "Operation Bhediya" to apprehend the pack of wolves responsible for recent attacks in 25-30 villages under Mahsi tehsil in the Bahraich range of Bahraich Forest Division. The fifth "killer" wolf was captured on September 10. To capture the sixth wolf, snap cameras were installed at most probable habitats of wolves in the area to monitor any movement.
Wolf attacks lead to fatalities and injuries in Bahraich
At least nine people were killed and over 40 injuried by these wolvess. The last wolf killed was a female that had entered an inhabited area and was carrying away a goat when villagers surrounded and killed it. Some villagers reported that this wolf had tried to attack a child sleeping next to his mother but ran away after hearing the mother's screams and attacked a goat instead. "On the way, the villagers surrounded and killed it," Singh said.
