Bahraich wolves attack: With the capture of a wolf today (August 29), four wolves have been caught so far and the hunt is on to nab two more responsible for killing eight people and injuring at least 15 others in the Bahraich district for the past two months, a senior forest official said.
"For a long time there was the terror of wolves here. Today we have caught a wolf. We will transfer it to the zoo. So far, 4 wolves have been caught. There are 2 wolves left; preparations are being made to catch them," the Chief Forest Conservator (Central Zone) Renu Singh said.
Divisional Forest Officer from Barabanki, Akashdeep Badhawan, also said the pack of wolves was under constant surveillance, and one wolf was caught today.
"We have traced three wolves that were regularly under our surveillance with the help of direct, indirect sighting, pad marks, as well as using IR drones. When we located one of them, we localised the area. It was later tranquillized with the help of vets present with us," he said.
Badhawan further stated that the other two wolves are under constant surveillance and they are hopeful to rescue them as soon as possible.
"There are still two left under our surveillance and we are also changing our strategies according to the local conditions, and we are hopeful that we will rescue them as soon as possible. Three have already been rescued since the start of the month and out of the remaining three, one had been rescued today and there are still two left," Badhawan said.
Drones installed to catch wolves
Earlier on Wednesday (August 28), the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department deployed an infrared (IR) drone in which the presence of two wolves were noticed in Bahraich. Speaking to media, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ajeet Pratap Singh said that the drones have captured the movement of two wolves near the village.
"We have alerted our people in the village. We have spotted two wolves in our drone, nearly 100 meters away from our location. We went to the spot and noticed footsteps and hence it was confirmed that two wolves had passed from here," Singh said on Wednesday.
Speaking on the wolf attacks, Circle Officer of Mahasi, Rupendra Gaur, said, " Drones, nets and cages are being used to catch the wolves. We are continuously trying to catch the wolves. We are ensuring that no untoward incident takes place anywhere. Eight people have lost their lives and 15 others are injured."
(With agencies inputs)
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