Photos of hunters struggling to lift up a giant wolf they had shot so they can pose with it have been doing the rounds on social media this week.
The incredibly large animal was reportedly shot near the village of Aleksandrovka, in Blagoveshchensk district, the autonomous Republic of Bashkortostan, where packs of wolves had recently started terrorizing residents. Interestingly, locals say that wolves had not been seen in the area four over four decades, but they recently turned up this winter, and had not shied away from entering human settlements. Several dogs have been found torn to pieces in recent weeks, and around twenty cows and sheep and horses have been eaten by the wolves. To make matters worse, guard dogs have apparently stopped barking to alert people about approaching wolves.