Sep 08, 2024 11:40 PM IST
The attacks on humans in Uttar Pradesh are not common behaviour and do not represent the Indian wolf’s actual nature.
The “big, bad wolf” — or at least a spectre of it — is back. Bahraich, a district in Uttar Pradesh, has witnessed a spate of attacks, purportedly by a pack of wolves, with at least ten persons (mostly children) killed and more than 25 injured. Violent human-animal conflict in which wildlife and humans are injured or killed, either deliberately or accidentally, is a common occurrence across India. Usually, large carnivores such as leopards, tigers, and bears, or other wildlife such as elephants are implicated. Only rarely do wolves and jackals (often mistakenly referred to as foxes) make the news for attacking people, that too, mostly when they contract rabies and go on a biting spree before being killed by irate humans. Wolves hunting children is rarer still. The last time such incidents were reported in UP was more than 30 years ago. The headlines were similar back then. Only when forest officials succeeded in eliminating the wolves did the tragic loss of human lives stop and the sensationalism die down.
For those of us studying wolves and interested in their conservation, this human-killing is aberrant. The Indian grey wolf is a unique sub-species of the ubiquitously found wolf. This sub-species, along with the Tibetan wolf of the Trans-Himalayan region, is an ancient lineage of wolves. Unfortunately, in a country that has so many glamourous conservation icons, the Indian grey wolf finds little space in the spotlight. There is no Project Wolf even though its numbers may be lower than the tiger’s. Indeed, its favoured habitat, the savanna grasslands of India, are not even considered conservation-worthy — ignominiously labeled as wastelands.
The only saving grace is that the wolf’s life is lived in the shadows of pastoralists, skulking behind their herds of sheep and goats. The Indian wolf long gave up hopes of living up to a romanticised version of its story, of chasing antelopes among the tall grass. The herds of blackbuck and chinkara are no more there, driven out by our pursuit of food and habitation.
The herdsman and the wolf are thus old acquaintances. The 50-odd nomadic pastoralist tribes in India have a carefully balanced relationship with the wolf. Many of them will not grudge the wolf a goat or two. After all, it needs to feed. But mounting losses can lead to swift retribution — dens are blocked, cubs are killed, and poisoned carcasses of livestock are laid out.
So, why have wolves taken suddenly to hunting humans? Speculation is rife, and information is scarce. Some believe that this could be the handiwork of dog-wolf hybrids, with the dog side being more used to dwelling among humans. After all, dogs also kill tens of children and adults across the country every year. There is scientific evidence that the ancient wolf lineage in India is in danger due to hybridisation with dogs. But, without conducting DNA tests on the animals suspected in the recent killings, we will not know for sure.
Another hypothesis is that the wolves did not have enough to eat and are therefore turning to easy prey. There is little evidence of this. Wolves have high adaptability. In times of scarcity, they will survive on rodents and fruit. Our countryside is filled with carcasses of livestock, and goats and sheep are abundant. A resourceful wolf would certainly not have to take such great risks as to attack children.
Whatever the reason, this behaviour is not common and does not represent the Indian wolf’s actual nature. It is, therefore, imperative that authorities act swiftly to eliminate this threat. Else, public perception will turn negative towards all wolves, and indiscriminate killing will start even where there is no conflict. Indeed, reports already suggest that jackals and foxes are being targeted as well. Ensuring that such conflict does not recur requires dedicated and systematic efforts to conserve landscape species such as the Indian wolf. If wolf populations are secure across the broader subcontinent, then authorities will not hesitate to take the necessary steps on the rare occasion that violent conflict occurs. And only if people feel safe around the wolf, it can have a chance to cling on despite our expanding footprint.
Conserving Indian wolves is relatively easy. They do not require dedicated wildlife sanctuaries or national parks. They do not need vast herds of dedicated prey. They do not need to be the cynosure of all eyes as flagships of their beleaguered habitat. They are happy to simply exist in the background. They will continue to depend on the largesse of marginalised pastoralist communities or scavenge in stealth at carcass dumps or outside poultry farms. All they need are secure places to raise their pups, their habitat not relentlessly converted to other uses, and greater awareness of their precarious presence. They also face a more pernicious threat — from their domestic cousins, the dog. Entire packs of wolves have been wiped out due to pathogens such as canine distemper virus contracted from dogs. Controlling the ever-burgeoning populations of free-ranging dogs in the countryside will allow the wolves some respite. Ultimately, the conservation of wolves, the lives and livelihoods of pastoralists, and the future of grasslands are intricately intertwined.
Let the “bhediyas of Bahraich” and their innocent victims serve the needed warning: If people are not kept at the centre of conservation, then our living landscapes will turn into battlefields. And there will only be losers on both sides. The future of wildlife conservation in India stretches beyond forests and our small protected areas. Animals do not recognise the difference between “our” habitat and “theirs”, nor the artificial lines that designate where they are supposed to “belong”. They do not “stray” outside forests. They have adapted to live among us. We need to change our conservation models so that people who live cheek-by-jowl with wildlife are made partners and beneficiaries in the conservation philosophy the rest espouse.
Abi Tamin Vanak is director, Centre for Policy Design, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). The views expressed are personal
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