Ending over two-month-long ‘Operation Bhediya’, villagers in Bahraich killed the sixth and last wolf of the man-eating pack that was creating terror in Mahsi tehsil in Uttar Pradesh. Villagers killed the sixth wolf, a female, during the late hours of Saturday when it reportedly entered a village and tried to attack a child.
According to Forest officials, the sixth wolf of the man-eating pack was killed by villagers in Tamachpur and its carcass was taken to range office for post-mortem. "Late Saturday night we got information that people had killed a wolf in Tamachpur village under Ramgaon police station of Mahsi tehsil. When we reached there, we found the dead wolf and the bodies of a goat. There were injury marks on the wolf's body and it was bleeding," Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ajit Pratap Singh told PTI.
Singh said the dead wolf was an adult female and villagers attacked the animal when it tried to carry away a goat. “When we inquired, we found out that the wolf had entered the inhabited area and was carrying away a goat. On the way, the villagers surrounded and killed it. The dead wolf has been brought to the range office for post-mortem," Singh added.
Tamachpur villagers said they attacked the wolf when it tried to prey on a child sleeping next to her mother. “The wolf had tried to attack an innocent child sleeping next to his mother in the courtyard of a house in the village, but on hearing the mother's screams, the wolf ran away and attacked a goat there. Later, the villagers surrounded the wolf and beat it to death,” they said.
‘Operation Bhediya’ was launched in July following reports of a pack of six wolves sowing terror in Mahsi tehsil, killing eight persons including children and injuring over 20. The forest department deployed 165 forest personnel and 18 shooters besides thermal camera-equipped drones and snap cameras in forests to capture the pack. The fifth wolf was captured on September 10 and four other wolves were earlier also rescued in the district.
