Bahraich Wolf Horror Exposes Forest Department’s Lapses: Six Dead as Delayed Action Sparks Public Outrage and Demand for Global-Standard Wildlife Training
BK Singh
The ongoing wolf menace in the Bahraich district has once again exposed the serious lapses and inefficiency of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, which has come under sharp public criticism for its delayed and inadequate response to repeated human killings.
On Thursday, the department finally managed to gun down a male wolf, allegedly part of a pack responsible for killing six people and injuring over 20 others in Kaiserganj tehsil and adjoining areas over the past month.
But this is just a claim from the department’s side. The truth is still hidden, feel the people of the area shiver at the thought of a wolf.
The animal was sighted in Manjhla Taukli village, the epicenter of recent attacks, where terrified villagers raised an alarm and informed authorities.
A forest team stationed nearby reached the spot and shot the predator dead. However, there’s a strong feeling among the villagers that the wolf shot dead may not be the one who had been attacking and killing people in the area.
It is also not clear whether just one among the pack of wolves had been on the killing spree, or others, too, were involved.
With fear still in their heart, the villagers in the area are keeping fingers crossed and wishing that they had been rid after the loss of six lives. But one thing is clear, they have lost trust in the forest department officials.
However, the incident has triggered outrage among residents, who accuse the department of failing to act swiftly after the very first human death.
Locals argue that had the officials acted decisively at the outset — by either tranquilizing or caging the predator — the loss of six innocent lives could have been prevented.
According to officials, this is the second confirmed wolf death in the ongoing operation, while two more wolves remain untraced, believed to have been injured in earlier encounters.
But the fact that these animals were allowed to roam freely for weeks after the initial attacks has raised serious questions about the department’s preparedness and coordination.
The wolf attacks first began on September 9, when a child was mauled to death in Paragpurwa village.
Since then, a string of brutal incidents spread panic across at least six villages, collectively home to nearly one lakh residents, situated around 45 kilometers from Bahraich’s district headquarters.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav confirmed that the carcass of the wolf has been sent for post-mortem examination, with the report awaited.
He also reiterated that a pack of four wolves was behind the series of attacks, but only two have been accounted for so far.
The department claims that thermal drones, camera traps, and cages have been deployed across several zones to trace the remaining animals — yet, villagers argue that these measures came too little, too late.
Frustrated by the forest department’s inefficiency, villagers in Kaiserganj and neighboring localities have openly demanded that the Center intervene.
They have urged the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change to ensure that forest officers and rangers are given global-standard training.
Locals say it is high time the state sends its forest personnel to African wildlife reserves such as the Maasai Mara in Kenya or Kruger National Park in South Africa to study how trained rangers handle apex predators with precision, planning, and compassion.
In today’s connected world, even villagers from the remotest corners of India can watch online how African wildlife experts manage dangerous situations — often capturing, tranquilizing, and relocating predators safely.
In contrast, the UP Forest Department’s reactive and poorly executed approach has eroded public trust.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who visited Bahraich on September 27, had instructed officials to capture or neutralize the attacking animals immediately.
Yet, despite these directions, the department’s response remained sluggish, with the predator continuing to strike for weeks before being brought down.
Bahraich’s tragic saga is not new. In September last year, a similar pack of six wolves in Mahasi tehsil killed eight children and injured 18 minors.
The department then launched “Operation Bhediya”, during which the animals were ultimately captured and neutralized.
But the recurrence of such attacks a year later clearly shows that no long-term preventive strategy was ever implemented.
As public anger grows, what should have been a lesson in wildlife management has turned into a grim reminder of administrative complacency.
The villagers’ demand for accountability and better wildlife management training has now reached the national level — an appeal that the state can no longer afford to ignore.
Interestingly, a Leopard has been roaming in the wetlands of the Ganga in Prayagraj for over a month.
Villagers in the Kachar belt have spotted him several times, but the Forest Department has not been able to neutralize him. Recently, it was spotted by the Guards of HRI in Jhusi across the Ganga, after dogs started barking.
The Forest Department has made unsuccessful attempts to cage the animal. They are probably waiting for the predator to retreat to the wild before making one or two persons its prey..
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