‘Op Bhediya’ Reveals Gaps In Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation

The forest officials of Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district breathed a sigh of relief when they captured five wolves from a pack of six, which has been under scrutiny for recent animal attacks on people, mostly children. “The good news is that there haven’t been any attacks reported in the past week,” Shaheer Khan, a conservation biologist from the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, who is currently stationed in Bahraich to assist the forest department in identifying and capturing the wolves, informed Mongabay India earlier this week.

The relief, however, was short-lived as three new attacks were reported from the district after that. Two children, aged 11, and a 50-year-old woman were attacked in the night on September 11.

The apprehensive residents have noticed a troubling pattern since the attacks began early this year: a series of strikes followed by a few days of calm. They are unwilling to believe that the attacking animal or animals have been captured by the forest officials.

Manoj Kumar Shukla, one of the local residents, had told Mongabay India a few days before the latest attack that he believed the attacking animal was different from the wolves that had been captured. “One of the wolves was seen here yesterday, it passed by a villager and did nothing. There is only one wolf which is attacking at multiple locations. It strikes every alternate week; it will strike in the next one or two days, since it’s going to be one week (since the last attack).”

The series of animal attacks on Bahraich villagers began earlier this year. Ten people have been killed — nine of them children under the age of nine, and one woman — and over 35 have been injured.

On July 17, Ali Ahmed’s one-year-old son was sleeping outside their house, with the family, due to a power outage. An animal, presumed to be a wolf, picked up the child and ran into the sugarcane fields, leaving behind a trail of faint cries. The family searched the fields all night and discovered the child’s body the next morning.

According to the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bahraich, Ajeet Pratap Singh, the first incident occurred on March 23. After a gap of three months, similar attacks happened in July. “After the first attack, we captured one wolf and its pup. There were no incidents in April, May and June; then on July 17, there was an attack at the same location. Another incident took place on July 27,” he shares. The department launched “Operation Bhediya” mid-July to round up the animals and remove them from the region.

Wolves in line of fire

Village residents and forest officials have attributed these attacks to wolves without relevant evidence to verify this claim. “There is no DNA evidence, no photographs, and not even pugmarks indicating wolves as the culprits,” notes veteran conservationist Y.V. Jhala. Even in the latest attacks, neither the forest department nor the district administration could confirm the identity of the animal in the absence of pugmarks at the sites.

The forest department, however, is going by the narrative that they are wolves, based on the drone footage that captured a pack of six wolves in the area. They used the footage as evidence for capturing and removing the animals. “The incidents (of attacks) and their presence coincided, and we are confident they were involved in these attacks,” affirms DFO Singh.

Habitat fragmentation due to climate change was initially highlighted as a cause for the attacks. It was speculated that packs of wolves that reside in small islands close to the Ghaghara river which was in spate following an unusually heavy monsoon, may have lost their habitat and moved closer to human settlements for survival.

Misinformation spreads

Panic, caused mostly by misinformation gripped the villages located between forests and the Ghaghara river in Bahraich, bordering Nepal. In response to the fear of further attacks, schools in the affected villages have been closed, and people are patrolling at night with torches and sticks. Their efforts increase with the frequent power outages in the region. “We all stay awake till 2 am or 2.30 am while our women and children sleep inside,” says Ali Ahmed. He says that awareness drives were conducted for four to five days after the incident (his son’s demise) which ceased later.

Unable to differentiate between feral dogs, jackals and wolves, all canid species were targetted and few jackals even fell victim to the people’s ire. Concerned about the situation, the scientific community circulated posters and videos on social media to clarify the differences between jackals and wolves.

Sensational media coverage aggravated the situation— gruesome visuals of animals being attacked in retaliation were highlighted and wolves were portrayed as bloodthirsty beasts seeking revenge on humans. “Wolves are not man-eaters. They may have attacked children by mistake, thinking they were wild prey like deer or hare in the bushes. Open defecation is common in these villages, and children often enter the bushes unaccompanied,” Khan explains.

Confusing predator identity

For ecologists and conservation biologists specialising in canid behaviour, this represents an extremely rare deviation from the norm for a shy, elusive animal that typically avoids human habitations. Historical records indicate similar incidents in the 1980s and 1990s, which ceased after some wolves were removed from the area. Since then, there have been no recorded instances of wolves attacking humans, except for occasional cases involving rabid wolves.

Although some reports indicate that genetic analysis is underway and that puncture marks on the victims’ necks and other body parts suggest wolf attacks, the forest department has denied conducting DNA tests. Ecologist Iravatee Majgaonkar notes that a few researchers are planning to file a Right to Information (RTI) request to clarify the situation.

Senior ecologist Abi Tamim Vanak who is the director of the Centre for Policy Design at ATREE, emphasises that it is irresponsible to label wolves as ‘killers’ or use inflammatory language to describe them without confirmation from genetic tests. Such actions could significantly impact the dwindling wolf population.

The Indian grey wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), a Schedule I species under India’s Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, is endangered with only about 3,000 individuals remaining. These wolves primarily inhabit agro-pastoral regions outside of protected areas and live in close proximity to humans, subsisting mostly on livestock. Retaliatory attacks and human hostility could have severe consequences for the remaining population.

In the absence of any concrete evidence to ascertain the attacking animal, speculations are rife on its identity. Is it a lone rabid wolf that attacked a few people or is it a pack of wolves hungry and desperate due to lack of wild prey? “It could even be a disabled animal that can no longer hunt and found the children to be easy prey,” says Jhala. Another theory points to wolf-feral dog hybrids that are inherently bolder and fearless around humans. “In some parts of India such as Maharashtra and Karnataka, we have observed the presence of hybrids in wolf packs,” says Majgaonkar.

Agriculture changes landscape

The changing landscape creates a fertile ground for potentially negative human-animal interactions. This raises concerns about why the forest department was so ill-prepared to handle the situation. Majgaonkar views the response to the animal attacks as reactive. Given that the landscape has been undergoing changes for an extended period, she believes the forest department should have been better prepared for such potential conflicts.

Singh notes that the department was caught off guard, as this is not considered a natural wolf behaviour. Historically, these wolves have coexisted with humans, typically preying on livestock. “They used to hunt for goats and calves. The sugarcane and paddy fields gave them good cover. Their normal diet is small animals but they started including children also this time. We instructed villagers to stay indoors so the children are safe and the wolves continue with their normal hunting behaviour,” Singh explains.

A part of the Terai region, forests and grasslands here have been rapidly converted to agricultural land. Lacking suitable habitats or special protection status unlike big cats, wolves have long existed in the shadows of pastoralists, preying occasionally on livestock but mostly subsisting on small herbivores and in dire circumstances, even rodents and fruits. The villagers themselves are marginalised, with many lacking proper housing and sleeping in the open, making them vulnerable to wildlife attacks. “These are extremely poor villages. Most villagers do not have houses; they sleep in the open and are vulnerable to wildlife attacks. Livestock are often better protected than children,” Jhala says.

Experts also emphasise the need to reconsider the current conservation model. India has a long history of coexistence with wildlife, and unlike in Western contexts, it is impractical to expect wildlife to remain solely within forest boundaries. “As wildlife conservation efforts begin to show results, we must be prepared for more potential conflicts,” says Vanak. Forest departments in vulnerable areas need to be better equipped to handle such situations. Vanak suggests increased funding and support for wildlife NGOs in these regions, enabling them to form partnerships with forest departments for resource sharing. He also recommends devolving responsibilities to district-level authorities to ensure prompt responses to conflicts.

In response, the Bahraich forest department views this incident as a valuable practice for future conflicts. “The team’s expertise has grown, enabling them to handle tasks such as tracking pugmarks, setting up nets, and using cages more effectively. Many of our previous shortcomings were addressed during this operation, which will benefit us in the future,” Singh shares.

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay-India. Read the original article here)