Amid rising man-wild conflict in dist, govt removes Bahraich DFO | Lucknow News
Lucknow: Amid ongoing concerns over human–wildlife conflict in Bahraich, where 12 kids have been killed in the past three months, the state govt on Tuesday shifted divisional forest officer (DFO) Ram Singh Yadav. He will be replaced by Sundaresha, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of the 2013 batch,Posted at present as Etah DFO, Sundaresha has been relieved from his current posting and directed to assume charge of his new assignment at the earliest. Yadav has been attached to the state headquarters.
Yadav was posted in Bahraich in July 2025 with the specific mandate of managing escalating incidents of wildlife attacks. Prior to this, he served in a similar capacity in the Kaushambi range.Sundaresha has served extensively in Uttar Pradesh and is known for his field experience in forest administration and conservation.During his career, he held key postings as DFO in districts including Etah, Auraiya and Kheri, and is regarded within the department for his work related to forest management and wildlife protection.Sources in the govt said the transfer came against the backdrop of a prolonged man–animal conflict situation in Bahraich.Officials familiar with the developments said efforts to contain the situation in Bahraich faced significant challenges. Over the past three months, repeated wolf and leopard attacks created widespread fear across rural pockets of the district. As many as 13 people, including 12 children, were killed in wolf attacks, while leopard incidents reportedly claimed 3 more lives and left at least 12 people injured during the same period.Forest department teams managed to rescue 2 leopards during operations, while 8 wolves were eliminated in encounters to prevent further loss of life, officials said.However, sources indicated that the severity and persistence of the attacks prompted the govt to reassess the district’s forest leadership.The appointment of Sundaresha is seen as a move to strengthen on-ground response, coordination and long-term mitigation strategies in Bahraich, one of the most sensitive forest divisions in the state in terms of human–wildlife conflict, said a source.
