Wolves plague sheep breeders in Sudan's Mahas land
Sudan, Culture, 4/3/2000

Horrified by attacks from wolves and left mainly to fend for themselves by the authorities, the inhabitants of Mahas land in the extreme north of Sudan on the Egyptian border, have resorted to sharing their bedrooms with their sheep for fear of losing them to the wild animals.

According to villagers in the area, over 600 heads of sheep were killed by the wild beasts in 1999 and the problem has continued in the new year.

Rizig Yasin of Kush village said the dog-like wolves are roaming the area in big numbers. They are known to attack and kill as many sheep from the herd as possible, eat some of them and leave the rest.

"The wolf first strangles its prey until it dies. Then it tears the abdomen apart to eat the soft inner parts only. It has no taste for other parts of the animal's body," he said.

Yasin said this situation has compelled sheep breeders to always be on the alert for the animals.

"We have to keep the sheep indoors, often inside our bedrooms," he complained.

Sharif Osman, another villager from Kush, said a tongue of water that spread from Lake Nasser, must have encouraged the wild beasts to come closer to the inhabited areas. Osman's impression about the wolf is that of a very intelligent creature.

"On one occasion a wolf that failed to climb out of a sheep enclosure after it had a heavy meal, heaped all the dead animals together and stepped over them to safety," he said.

The area saw a similar wave of attacks in 1961 but a team of vets was rushed in to poison and eliminate them.

The inhabitants complained that the local authorities this time were not as responsive to the problem.

"They (authorities) refuse to face the situation under the pretext that they have no orders to use gunfire," one villager told the Arrai el A'am newspaper on Saturday.

He suggested that because the wolves move in large groups, there is need for the use of machine guns.

A spokesman for Abri town police argued that the police were trying to do their best but "the region is so vast to be put under control so easily."

Previous Stories:
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  Explosion in petroleum pipeline in eastern Sudan   (11/29/1999)
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