In a bid to catch wolves that are targeting children and villagers in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, the forest department has initiated an innovative effort of using colourful teddy dolls soaked in children’s urine as a bait to capture them, a senior forest official said.
Over the past few months, the Bahraich region has been plagued by a series of attacks by man-eating wolves, promptin the Uttar Pradesh government to launch ‘Project Bhediya’ to catch the wolves.
The forest department now has initiated an innovative effort by using brightly coloured "teddy dolls" as a false bait to capture these predators.
These dolls have been strategically placed near the riverbanks, close to the wolves' resting places and dens, and are being soaked in children's urine to simulate the natural human scent.
"The wolves are constantly changing their locations. Typically, they hunt at night and return to their dens by morning. Our strategy is to mislead them and lure them away from residential areas towards traps or cages placed near their dens," Divisional Forest Officer Ajit Pratap Singh told PTI.
"We are tracking them using thermal drones and then attempting to drive them towards deserted areas near the traps by setting off firecrackers and making noise. Since these animals have primarily been targeting children, we have introduced large teddy dolls dressed in colourful clothes, soaked in children's urine, to create a false sense of human presence near the traps. The natural human scent may attract the wolves closer to the traps," the officer added.
An issue since the colonial era
Senior IFS officer Ramesh Kumar Pandey, who has extensive experience working in the Terai forests and is currently serving as the Inspector General of Forests in the Ministry of Environment, said that wolves, jackals, foxes, coyotes and both domestic and wild dogs belong to the canid species.
He explained that historically, the British had attempted to eliminate wolves from this area, even offering rewards for killing them. However, despite these efforts, the wolves managed to survive and continue to inhabit the riverbank areas.
Mr. Pandey further explained that various types of bait are used to capture animals, including live bait, dead bait and false or masked bait.
Attacks intensifying
In recent months, a pack of wolves in the Mahsi Tehsil of Bahraich has become increasingly aggressive, with attacks intensifying since July. According to official sources, the pack of six wolves has allegedly killed six children and one woman since July 17, while injuring numerous villagers.
Four of the six wolves have been captured, but two remain at large, continuing to pose a threat in the area. The forest department is actively searching for these wolves using both thermal and regular drones.
Locals blame administration negligience
As the operation continues, a three-year old girl was killed and two other women were injured in another attack, in the early hours of Monday (September 9, 2024), spreading anger among the locals, who blamed that the administration for showing negligence in their work.
“This incident happened at 03:35 in the morning. When my 6-month-old girl got up in the middle of the night, I saw that my daughter was not there. Both the hands of my child have been bitten by the wolf. We work as labourers all day and raise the children. We ran after that him but it escaped. We are poor so we are not able to get doors installed in the housem,” she said.
Her neighbour said that they had spotted the wolf many times, but whenever they called the forest department, they ask for video proof.
A local in Thalia village also said that they have shown the footprints of the animal, but the administration is not taking any action.
“They are saying that we are watching through drones. We have made a video but the administration is just sitting,” he said.
Another local alleged that the administration came after 1.5 hours and that there was no system at all to enusre the villagers security.
