100 Years Ago Today: November 7, 1904 (Editorial Note)

A Resolution in the home department is published summarising the returns relating to the loss of human life and of cattle of wild animals and snakes in India last year. The human deaths from wild animals numbered 2,749 against 2,536 in 1902 and from snake-bite 21,827 as compared with 23,167 in 1902. The number of cattle destroyed by wild animals was 86,232 and by snakes 9,019 in the preceding twelve months. The resolution notices that nearly all of the forty-eight human deaths from tigers reported in the Sambalpur district of the Central provinces were caused by a single tigress, which has been infested the Ambabhana jungles for some years; that one or two man-eating wolves are responsible for almost all the deaths attributed to these beasts in the Budaun, Cawnpore, and Fatehpur districts, and adds: �The opinion expressed in last year�s Resolution that wolves had been almost exterminated in the Cawnpore district has unhappily not been borne out of the events in this district. Though increased rewards have more than trebled the number of wolves killed, the deaths attributed to these animals have increased in almost equal proportions. Enhanced rewards have been sanctioned in Fatehpur, where wolves infest the ravines of the Ganges banks.�

Interesting, I had no idea India had wolves. Snakes really seemed to dent the population of just about anything!

Ann,

India has the Asiatic Grey Wolf in fairly large numbers and about two or three years ago there were a number of attacks on villages in Central India with a dozen or more people killed by them following which the entire pack was traced and shot by the Forest Department. This was after a long time as no wolf attacks had occurred on humans in India for decades before this, but they were fearsome creatures in the old days - Kipling's Mowgli was a wolf boy, sort of an Indian Romulus or Remus.

Predictably the PFA (Indian PETA) and some environmental groups including Greenpeace India went berserk and sued the government, and, as far as I know, the lawsuits are still on.

Good hunting!