Wolves in both East and West Burdwan seem to be repeating the ‘Bahraich effect’ in the jungle patches as the endangered creatures have intensified intrusion into the domestic quarters in recent times.

Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh already recorded 53 human deaths caused by wolves since 1996.

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At Debsala village in East Burdwan’s Ausgram-II block alone, the wolves have frequented twice, unleashing fierce attacks on human settlements between 27-29 December. At Bijra, close to Debsala, a pack of wolves was hounded out by the residents late on Monday evening.

The forest range officials conducted a mass campaign on Tuesday in Garh Jungle villages, besides the Ajoy river to make locals aware about the wolves with an urge to ensure protection of the roaming packs, said Pranab Kumar Das, the ranger, Panagarh.

At Debsala hamlet, an aggressive maljurian male wolf suddenly sneaked in on 27 December early morning and had indiscriminately attacked the residents, leaving 22 locals, including 3 kids critically injured. The panicked but angry residents retaliated shortly and beat the wolf to death.

“It seems that the matured wolf was a rogue and its mental state deteriorated, possibly due to some viral or bacterial infection. They usually don’t stray into human habitats during daytime,” Sanchita Sharma, divisional forest officer, East Burdwan, told The Statesman. The forest officials suspect that the wolf either was affected by CDV (canine distemper virus) or Tularemia, a bacterial infection, which affected it psychologically.

On 29 December, another wolf strayed into the same Debsala village and picked up two goat calves from the houses of Paresh Ruidas and Kota Ruidas.

The breeding season of the wolves range between October and December and a matured maljurian wolf may suffer psychological breakdown during this season, many times.

“But it’s not a case of just about the maljurians, so far we’ve gathered,” said Arkajyoti Mukherjee, secretary, WINGS (Wildlife Information & Nature Guide Society)- a WWF India funded organisation working on Indian grey wolf conservation project around West Burdwan district. “We’ve established villager committees to conserve the Schedule-I protected species and from January, we’ll focus more on intense campaigns,” Mukherjee said.

Bahraich district in UP this year recorded the highest number of wolf attacks. Between March and September alone, the wandering pack killed 10 persons and left 30 severely wounded. The UP government, considering this killing spree of the wolves launched ‘Operation Bhediya’ aiming to capture the penetrating wolves and six wolves were identified as responsible for the attacks.

Way back in 1996, a lone wolf had killed 43 people across three UP districts including Bahraich.

“The injured or sick wolves are more likely to attack due to increased vulnerability and potential aggression,” said a veteran wildlife officer, adding, “Also, when the wolves become more accustomed to human presence due to improper feeding or close proximity, they may lose their fear and approach humans aggressively.”

In Bengal, the Zoological Survey of India in its wolf abundance report in November 2024 stated that Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore houses a significant population of Indian wolves, a subspecies of grey wolf.