Bahraich (UP), Nov 2 (PTI) A female wolf was shot dead by forest department officials here on Sunday, hours after a 15-month-old girl was suspected to have been attacked by the wild animal while she was sleeping beside her mother in the courtyard of their home in Kandauli village of Kaiserganj tehsil.
The girl, Shanvi, was snatched by the animal at 5 am on Sunday. Based on the footprints found in the area, the animal was suspected to be a wolf, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ram Singh Yadav said.
Though the girl’s body was not found, pieces of flesh and blood stains were recovered from the area, he said.
Forest department shooters tracked the wolf using blood trails, footprints and drones in the direction it had fled after taking the child. The animal was spotted fleeing near Pradhan Purva village in Gandhiganj area, where it was shot and injured, the DFO added.
It later died in Babhnan Purva village around 3.30 pm, Yadav said.
The body of the adult female wolf has been taken into custody and will be sent for post-mortem examination, he added.
At first glance, it appeared that this was the same wolf that abducted the girl, he said, adding that the post-mortem and forensic examination report will confirm this if traces of human flesh and blood are found in its jaws.
The DFO said earlier it was estimated that there were four wolves in the pack, three of which had been killed. However, recent evidence suggests the number may be higher.
A lame wolf that fled after being shot in the leg last month remains untraced, he said.
Forest teams have also traced the footprints of another wolf and are using drones and rescue teams to corner it, he added.
According to officials, between September 9 and October 15, six people – including four children and an elderly couple – were killed and 29 villagers were injured in wolf attacks in villages in Kaiserganj and Mahsi tehsils of Bahraich district.
On October 16, forest department officials claimed that a pack of four wolves was carrying out the attacks, of which three had been killed, and only a lame wolf remained.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered that the wolves be captured, and if they cannot be caught, they should be shot. The Forest Department subsequently claimed to have killed the three wolves in quick succession.
The government has provided compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of deceased villagers and Rs 50,000 each to the injured, officials said. PTI COR NAV OZ OZ
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