Is it time to ‘cry
wolf’ again?
When the cherubic Little
Red Riding Hood made her escape from the snapping jaws of the big bad
wolf masquerading as her grandmother, it was inevitable that the dread
value of the wolf generated by the fable, would continue to haunt the
minds of little children even after they had grown up to adulthood.
Later, with imaginations having been fuelled by the choicest
supernatural stories of werewolves and their variant local forms, it is
no wonder that the wolf became such an object of hatred that it was
virtually eliminated in many areas of the world where it used to be
found. Not helping its cause was the confounding fact that it was a
predator that often came into conflict with man by lifting poultry and
livestock during harsh climatic times of prey scarcity.
In India, the wolf (Canis
lupus) is an endangered species listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act. It is surely a debatable issue whether the decline in
its population was the result of sustained elimination, or due to the
loss of its habitat to the ever-burgeoning agricultural activity in the
country. But chances are that it was a combination of both these factors
that pushed the wolf into the endangered category. The increase in
agriculture activity must have manifested in decreasing wolf habitats
and falling population levels, while the other effect would have been an
increase in man-wolf conflicts, resulting in further downsizing of wolf
populations due to elimination of aberrant packs.
However, the wolf seems
to have made an appearance in the state. The recent report of
child-killing by a wolf in a village near Rae Bareli is disturbing in
the sense that it brings to mind a spate of similar incidents that
happened in eastern Uttar Pradesh during 1996-97 when many children were
injured or killed in wolf attacks. One also remembers that the childhood
fear lurking in the subconscious minds and imaginations of the simple
village folk affected by those incidents, gave rise to so many
illusionary villains like the ‘manhai’, a man who transformed into a
wolf in order to satiate his desire to eat a succulent child.
The media fallout of
those events was instrumental in wildlife scientists and forest
officials making an in-depth study of the problem. Dr YV Jhala, faculty
member of the Wildlife Institute of India and an expert on wolves,
conducted a research in the affected areas during March to October 1996,
in order to ascertain the identity of the predator responsible for these
attacks, as well as to determine the causes for this aberrant behaviour,
in case it was indeed wolves that were to be blamed.
During the course of the
study, about 70 cases of attacks causing injury and death to children
were taken into account. Sites of attacks, remains of killed children,
autopsy reports and the evidences like hair and pugmarks left by the
predator were examined. Data pertaining to location, date and time of
attacks were analysed to determine the area of operation and their
chorological trend. The availability of both wild and domestic prey-base
in the area of study was used as an indicator to assess the levels to
which children of that area could become the target of wolf predation.
The study inferred that
it was indeed a single wolf that was responsible for the attacks, the
frequency of attack being one in three days, while the average rate of
the victim being killed was once every five days. The reason why
children were targeted was that most of them ranged between the ages of
4 months to 9 years, and were more vulnerable as compared to village
livestock. Moreover, there was also clear indication of some form of
neglect by the parents, which caused the children becoming easy targets.
Therefore, in view of the
present case of the reported wolf attack, it would be a good idea to
take a lesson from the past, and focus on creating awareness among the
affected populace, so that they do not put down their guard, or become
victims of wild rumours once again. Moreover, with the present Chief
Wildlife Warden himself having being an active field campaigner when the
previous wolf attacks occurred, it can safely be assumed that the Forest
Department would have no problems in taking full control over the
man-wolf conflict that has presented itself today.