Days after 2-year-old boy mauled to death, wolf caught in UP's Bahraich

Days after a two-year-old boy was mauled to death by an animal at Mahasi in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district—an incident that revived fears in an area plagued by wolf attacks last year—a forest department team caught a female wolf on Saturday, bringing some relief to locals.
The mauling came nearly 10 months after a pack of wolves terrorised 35 villages in the Mahasi area, killing eight people—mostly children—and injuring at least 18 others.
After the boy's death on June 3, his family and locals said that a wolf was responsible for the attack. However, forest officials said the animal involved would be confirmed only after a DNA report from the Wildlife Institute of India's forensic laboratory in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A portion of the victim's remains has been sent for testing and the report is awaited.
'We captured the wolf after surrounding the area where it was spotted using a thermal drone. While we cannot yet confirm whether this is the same animal that killed the child, it was necessary to capture it due to the widespread public anger following the incident,' said Ajeet Kumar Singh, Divisional Forest Officer, Bahraich.
Singh added that there was concern the wolf might have been killed by locals if spotted, as anger had been running high since the boy's death.
The animal is currently undergoing a medical examination.
The wolf was captured in Sardal Ka Pachasa village, located about 3 km from Gadamar Kala, where the boy, Ayush, was killed. Early on June 3, the animal reportedly entered the house and took Ayush away. Although the family woke up and tried to chase it, their efforts were unsuccessful. The next morning, Ayush's body was found in a nearby sugarcane field, with parts of his limbs mauled.
Forest department officials rushed to the spot after receiving reports that an animal, believed to be a wolf, had entered a house in Gadamar Kala and taken away a baby.
Last year, during the two-month-long Operation Bhediya, the forest department captured six wolves believed to be responsible for the deaths of eight people. Initially, officials had blamed a jackal, but later, based on drone footage and images captured using thermal cameras, it was confirmed that wolves were behind the attacks.

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