Another killer wolf, part of the pack that had terrorised people living in 25 to 30 villages in Uttar Pradesh, was caught by the Forest Department on Thursday.
In the past 45 days, man-eater wolves have allegedly killed around eight people including six children and one woman and have left more than 25 people injured in Bahraich area; and have been giving sleepless nights to 50,000 people residing in these areas.
On Thursday, the forest department caught one of the killer wolves, taking the total number of trapped wolves to four. Two more are still on the run.
Barabanki Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Akashdeep Badhawan, the in-charge of 'Operation Bhediya', told PTI that a male wolf was trapped in one of the cages set up near Sisayya Chudamani village in the morning.
Drone cameras and thermal drone mapping techniques are being used by the forest department to catch the wolves. Permission to tranquillise the animals has been granted by the chief wildlife warden, according to an official statement.
As per the forest department, there is uncertainty about the total number of wolves in the area, officials said.
Principal Chief Forest Conservator (Wildlife) Sanjay Srivastava on Wednesday said 16 teams were working to capture the wolves, and 12 district-level officers are also stationed here.
Additional Principal Chief Forest Conservator Renu Singh will remain on-site until the remaining wolves are captured, he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
