Vengeance likely reason behind wolf attacks in UP's Bahraich, say officials
Bahraich (UP), Sep 8: An invasion of wolves is keeping the forest authorities on their toes in Bahraich, where the animal is suspected to have killed at least six people and wounded several, all within a very short span.
The Uttar Pradesh forest department has so far trapped four wolves, but the animal attacks have continued despite multiple teams casting a dragnet across a 75 square kilometre area in the district near Nepal border.
There is only a studied speculation about what has suddenly made wolves so aggressive that they have begun invading human settlements, terrorising 15,000 people from 50 villages of Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich.
"The aggressive behaviour of wolves is not normal. Rabies infection increases the aggression of wolves and thus this possibility of them being infected is there," a forest officer told PTI.
"It is necessary that medical tests be conducted on four of the estimated six wolves caught so far, so that it can be ascertained whether they are infected with rabies," he said.
Dr AM Pawde, Principal Scientist and in-charge at the Wildlife Centre of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, said there is a possibility wolves alone may not be behind all the attacks.
Honey badgers, known as 'kabra bijju' in local parlance, too might have been behind some of the attacks, he said.
"The nature of attack on at least one of the eight victims suggested a pattern different from what is left behind by wolves, who usually attack their prey from the toe or target a vein at the back of the leg," Pawde said.
"But one of the Bahraich victims, a girl, had some part of her nose eaten away," he said.
Pawde gave his logic why wolves may have suddenly begun attacking humans.
"Wolves have a tendency to extract revenge. The Bahraich case seems to be a case of both revenge as well as growing human encroachment in wildlife forest space," he said.
"Wolves are extremely sensitive. The teams working on the field are now looking at the possibility of one of the wolves being lame, a possible consequence of it being assaulted by humans for venturing into their area in the past.
"This wolf could be the alpha wolf, the leader of the pack. This theory lends credibility to the theory about a pack of wolves being loyal to the one who was assaulted in the past and who are now targeting the human population in the vicinity," Pawde said.
"The other possibility is that wolves became aggressive after watching some people cause harm to their pups," he said.
According to sources in the forest department, 'Operation Bhedia', launched on July 17, has led to the capture of four out of the estimated six wolves possibly behind the attacks.
The last capture was made on the morning of August 29. Since then, two more incidents of wild animals attacking humans have been recorded.
Wildlife experts believe wolves are responsible for at least six of the total eight deaths so far in violent animal attacks. At least 20 people have been seriously injured, of which about 12 to 15 are believed to be injured in wolf attacks.
Bahraich Divisional Forest Officer Ajit Pratap Singh said several teams, comprising 165 members in all, are engaged in wolf-hunting. The state government has deployed nine shooters also.
"The affected areas have been divided into various categories in terms of their vulnerability and in each area is manned with two officers of the level of Divisional Forest Officer or Sub-Divisional Forest Officer. There are six teams of five members in each category," he said.
Rumourmongering is not helping the forest department either.
"Every evening, the forest department receives information about the presence of wolves at different places and all these tip-offs prove to be fake. These days anyone getting injured is saying that injury was inflicted by a wild animal," he said.
District Magistrate of Bahraich Monica Rani said the local administration is also installing doors in the houses of people who live in affected areas.
"So far doors have been installed in 120 houses in villages like Kolela, Sisayya Churamani, Sikandarpur and Nakwa," she said.
Rani said shelter homes have been established in Panchayat Bhawan Agraura Dubaha, Raipur, and Chandpaiya and Samvilian Vidyalaya Sisayya Chunamani.
District Panchayati Raj Officer Raghavendra Dwivedi, the nodal officer nominated for the shelter homes said these shelters are set up for the destitute or those who don't have proper houses in the affected regions.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
