Wolves Appear To Have Vanished Even From Rayalaseema In AP

KURNOOL: Once feared as one of the ferocious predators roaming the hill tracts of Rayalaseema, wolves appear to have vanished from across Andhra Pradesh. Sources in the Forest department reveal that there have been no sightings or evidence of wolves in any district of AP for over a decade and a half.

The department had carried out intense surveillance and deployed special teams in select forest zones. But there has been no trace of the elusive carnivore.

Traditionally, wolves have thrived in the forest landscapes of Lankamala, Nallamala, and Seshachalam, as well as the scrub forests of Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts. However, that appears to be a thing of the past.

Forest officials attribute the decline of wolves to multiple factors, including shrinking forest cover, habitat degradation, and the increasing dominance of wild dogs, which are believed to be outcompeting and even attacking wolves.

A   from Nandyal district said, “There has been no evidence of any wolf. For more than a decade, we have not witnessed incidents of wolf attacks on livestock, which had once been common in fringe areas of forests.”

Officials have been conducting systematic searches for over a decade in Kadapa district, particularly in the Lankamala forest region. Surveillance methods, including camera traps and footprint analysis, have yielded no results so far. “This is deeply concerning,” said a forest official from Kadapa.”

In the past, wolves would often venture into grasslands on the forest fringes, preying on sheep and goats. Today, shepherds no more fear their presence. Boya Ramulu, a shepherd from Sunnipenta in the Srisailam constituency, recalled, “Earlier, we used to fear taking our sheep near forest edges because wolves would attack them. Now, there is no sign of wolves at all.”

Interestingly, there had been instances of domesticating wolves in the past. Such practices ceased after strict enforcement of wildlife protection laws. Conservationists fear the species could be on the brink of extinction in AP.

What makes the situation puzzling is increase in populations of other wild animals, such as leopards and deer, some of which are now straying into human habitations; and even becoming victims of road accidents.

Forest officials have, however, not yet given up hope. They say more intensive scientific surveys will reveal the truth.