It was in 1997 that the last incident of elusive wolves attacking children in Uttar Pradesh and devouring them in the silence of the night was reported. That was until this August. Nearly 30 years later, a pack of starving wolves in UP’s Bahraich district has returned to the old ways, killing as many as seven children over the last few weeks.
“It is very rare. Wolves almost never attack humans. We have recorded only two such incidents, in the 1980s and the last around 1997. Both instances occurred in the rural belt of Uttar Pradesh-Bihar – where people still live in extreme poverty with barely any doors on their houses,” said Dr YV Jhala, senior wildlife scientist and former dean, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun.
Top predators of the Indian grasslands, wolves feed on sheep, goats, deer, chinkara, and even reptiles and rodents. But as grasslands quickly disappear, the majority of their population now lives outside the dense, protected forest areas which are now human-dominated. They thrive on livestock, which if not available pushes them to explore.
“When they do not find food, then young, unattended children in villages can become easy prey. And, once the wolf is successful in its first such kill, then it is naturally inclined to prey on it again,” said Jhala matter-of-factly.
‘MAY NEED TO ELIMINATE PACK’
The spate of killings has left the surrounding villages in the district panic-stricken. An incident was reported where people mistook a hapless jackal for a wolf and beat it to death. The forest department has already captured four animals, but two are still on the prowl – and most likely to be the adults leading the pack.
Senior wildlife scientist Dr Bilal Habib, from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, said the only way to prevent any more attacks is to capture the carnivores “as early as possible”.
“They are hungry, and they normally feed in 3-5 days, so they will continue to hunt unless captured. Since children are easy prey, they are likely to be targets, and need to be protected,” said Dr Habib, who has studied wolves for years.
“It is not in the basic nature of wolves to attack humans. But it is the circumstances around it that have led this to happen,” he said, highlighting how the region blanketed by tall, green grass in the monsoon can make these wolves stray into the villages in the dark where young children sleep outdoors during the hot and humid weather.
These shy but feared carnivores distinguished by their yellow-brown coats and thin, strong, long legs are fiercely territorial and their pack establishes a home range of around 250 sq km. India now has about 2,000 wolves in the wild, and over 90% are found outside the forests, mostly in scrubs and grasslands.
“We may even need to eliminate this pack. These animals have learnt to prey on humans, and this behaviour can potentially spread to other wolves through social learning. So we need to keep that into perspective,” said Dr Abi Vanak, senior ecologist at ATREE, Bengaluru, adding that incidents are “deeply concerning”.
A HYBRID? SCIENTISTS DIVIDED
The Indian wolves have an ancient lineage and are sub-species of the grey wolves – their distant relatives. While there is some speculation that the adult wolf in the pack making the kill is a hybrid (dog-wolf), scientists are divided. Either way, it cannot be proven until it is captured and DNA profiling is done.
Although dogs descended from wolves thousands of years ago, and cross-breeding can occur, there have not been many sightings in India. The two sub-species can be visually differentiated by the colour of their coat – a darker one in case of a hybrid. The agile predators are also elusive, and clever, and will need to be carefully captured perhaps by using bait (meat).
With around 2,000 wolves left in India, (less than tigers) the carnivores are protected under Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Since, their ideal habitat, grasslands, are being relegated to mere “wastelands”, such conflicts are likely to happen in future, experts said.
But the attacks on children can be prevented by uplifting the rural livelihoods and providing the people with basic facilities – houses with doors, power supply, and toilets. Until then, an expert said, “Keep a rope tied to your children’s arm while sleeping, because in case a wolf sneaks up in the middle of the night, chances are it will abandon the pursuit when it is unable to grab its potential prey by the neck and drag it into the bushes.”