Bahraich wolf attacks: Another child allegedly attacked by a wolf

In Bahraich, a boy was again attacked and injured by a wolf in a village in Hardi district in the early hours of Monday. The boy was taken to the hospital where his injuries were treated. However, the forest department is not taking the family's claim of a wolf attack seriously.

Eleven-year-old Imran, son of Mohd Umar, was allegedly attacked by a wolf at around 3 am on Monday in Pipri Mohan village under Hardi police station limits. Umar said Imran was sleeping on the terrace of the house when a wolf attacked him. Hearing the boy's cries, family members and people from nearby houses ran to the roof, after which the animal fled from the spot. The boy was taken to Community Health Centre (CHC) Mahsi.

Ajit Pratap Singh, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in Bahraich, said a team had been sent to the area. Besides, forest guards and other field staff were combing the area to find the animal. The DFO ruled out the possibility of a wolf attack in Pipri village.

He said it was neither a wolf nor other animals like leopards and lions, all of which do not easily attack animals larger than them. Since the boy was sleeping on the terrace, it was unusual for the wolf to have climbed onto the terrace and attacked him. Moreover, no paw prints of a wolf have been found in the area, he added.

He said that Wildlife Institute of India (WII) expert Shaheer Khan had also examined the spot and that the paw prints found there did not match those of a wolf.

However, the DFO said two jackals were spotted in the area by a drone camera. He said family members may not have been able to properly identify the animal due to darkness and that due to the history of wolf attacks in the area, people assumed the attack was carried out by a wolf.

Meanwhile, CHC director Dr. Talha Shamsi, who examined the injured boy, stated in his medical report that “the mark on the neck of the injury looks like an animal bite.”

The forest department has captured five wolves from a pack of six that are suspected of killing 10 people, including nine children, and injuring more than four dozen people in the Mahsi Tehsil area in recent months.

Apart from Monday's attack, five such attacks have been reported from different villages since September 10. Six persons, including two boys (Nanku 6, Imran 11), two girls (Shivani 12, Suman 13) and two women (Gudiya 26, Pushpa 50) were reportedly attacked and injured in wolf attacks in the area.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also visited Sisaiya Churamani village in Mahsi tehsil of the district on Sunday and met the families of the victims. He assured that all possible help would be provided to the victims and that all teams, including 165 teams of the forest department, police and district administration, would patrol the area until the area was declared safe.

SHARIQ RAIS SIDDIQUI