ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Wolves killed 108 sheep and injured more than 50 others in an overnight attack in the Sheikhan district of Duhok province, causing an estimated $30,000 in losses, shepherds said on Thursday.
The attack occurred as shepherds were grazing a flock of around 500 sheep, according to witnesses. The owner, Mohammed Ahmed, who travels from Bashiqa in Nineveh province each year to graze his livestock, said he fainted when he heard the news and was hospitalized.
“My livestock were part of my heart,” Ahmed said from Sheikhan Hospital. “When I heard the news, I lost consciousness. Thank God the children were safe - that’s all that mattered.”
The attack occurred in the village of Maman, around 10 kilometers west of Sheikhan.
Shepherd Amer Hamoud said the wolves appeared suddenly from behind a valley and scattered the sheep. “We tried to drive them away, but they reached the livestock,” he said.
The shepherds’ guard dogs were not present during the attack because of the hot weather, which may have contributed to the scale of the losses.
Wolves inhabit mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region. Though wild by nature, some have been domesticated or semi-domesticated and even sold in animal markets. Poaching and the illegal wildlife trade threaten their population.
