Various efforts are being made by the forest department to catch the man-eating wolf that has become a cause of terror in Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. The forest department has set up cages at various places to catch the man-eating wolf. Traps have been laid in the fields. Surveillance is being done with drones, but the wolf is not getting caught. At the same time, the forest department is now installing sound systems near the cages. In this sound system, the ‘pre-recorded’ sound of the screaming and crying of the female wolf is being played.
Forest department officials hope that the clever man-eating wolf will be attracted by the screaming and crying of the female wolf and will be drawn towards the cage and will get trapped in the net. It is worth noting that before this, the forest department has used elephant dung, ‘teddy dolls’ soaked in children’s urine, firecrackers and thermal drones etc. to catch wolves.
‘Pre-recorded’ voice of female wolf is being played
Bahraich DFO Ajit Pratap Singh said that this time we are doing a new experiment to catch the man-eating wolf. We are playing ‘pre-recorded’ voices of female wolf crying and screaming on loudspeakers. The volume of the loudspeaker is neither too loud nor too low. We are keeping it just enough so that it sounds like the voice of a real female wolf. It is possible that the man-eating wolf, attracted by the voice similar to that of its lost female wolf, comes near the trap set by us and gets trapped in the trap.
Earlier, the forest department had made cakes of elephant dung and kept them burning near residential areas, the smell of which would make the wolves think that elephants are present there. Out of fear, they will not go there and come towards the trap set by the department and get trapped. They had sprinkled children’s urine near the trap and placed colourful teddy dolls with the hope that the wolves would come near the trap by smelling the children.
Wolves are being chased away by burning crackers
In the area where the man-eating wolf is present, crackers are being burnt in such a way that the wolves are driven away from the residential areas and forced to take the planned path. DFO Ajit Pratap Singh said that in Sisayya Churamani village of Mahsi tehsil, a wolf attacked and killed a pet goat on Tuesday morning around 4-5 am. People saw the wolf, teams were deployed, a cordon was laid, but during this time hundreds of people from nearby areas reached there and the wolf escaped.
Wolf terror in 50 villages
DFO Ajit Pratap Singh said that the wounds found on the goat’s body look like attacks by wolves. He said that there is terror of wolves in an area of about 20-25 km. Thousands of citizens of 50 villages located in the Ghaghra river basin under Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich are in panic due to wolf attacks. Since July 17, 10 people including 9 children have died in wolf attacks, while about three dozen people have been injured in wolf or other animal attacks.
18 sharp shooters deployed to catch the wolf
165 people of the forest department, 18 sharp shooters, hundreds of policemen and PAC jawans, revenue and other department personnel, teams of villagers are engaged in the campaign to catch the wolves by staying alert day and night. Senior officials of the forest department are deployed in the area. Experts from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) from Dehradun and many voluntary organizations are engaged in rescue, relief and rescue operations.
