Forest Officials Shun Drones, Follow Pug Marks To Capture Fifth Wolf After Deadly Attacks In Bahraich | Video

Forest officials on Tuesday captured the fifth man-eating wolf in the Sisaiya area of Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich after a series of deadly attacks since July. The officials conducting ‘Operation Bhediya’ attributed their success to their changed strategy and said they stopped relying on drones and followed pug marks to trace the animal.

Chief Forest Conservator of Central Zone, Renu Singh, said after they received information on a goat going missing, they set up nets and waited because the rescue operation could not have taken place at night.

“This is very interesting because we received information yesterday that it lifted a goat in Nathuwapur. Tracing its pug marks, we set up nets and waited because the rescue operation could not have taken place at night. We carried out the operation in the morning and captured it early morning. We changed our strategy because it was changing its behaviour.”

“Earlier, we used to fly the drone right on top of a wolf and pick it. But they got smarter and started running away as soon as they spotted the drone. This time, we located, saw the pug marks but we stopped the drone in the final operation. We then picked it up. One more wolf remains and we will make all the efforts to rescue it at the earliest. It will be sent to a zoo,” she explained, adding that the wolf will be shifted to a zoo or a shelter home, preferably in Gorakhpur.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ajeet Pratap Singh said the operation began on Monday night.

He, however, said the operation to capture (the wolf) started around 5:30-6 am and was completed around 6:15-6:30 am.

“This was the first operation in which a drone was not used to capture the wolf, but it was being operated to find out the next location (of the wolf) in case it escaped,” he said.

“One more wolf remains to be caught. we even spotted it. We are alert. We will heighten vigilance in the village. Our operation has not concluded, we will get to work now and perhaps we will have the second success today itself. This one is a female, the one that escaped is a male,” he said.