Uttar Pradesh has a far smaller population of about 61, but heavy rains have driven many from their habitats in the surrounding forests to villages in search of food, officials said.
The wolves were first spotted in the villages in March, but the first attacks did not start until July 17. They have caused panic among locals, with mothers tying their babies close to them at night and police shouting through loudspeakers for them to stay awake.
“As the sun sets, fear grips our village. It feels like wolves have taken over our village and can attack anytime. We want an end to this fear,” said Saumya Devi, a resident of Kolila village, where 8-year-old Kishan was killed in August.
Ajit Pratap Singh, a district forest officer of Bahraich, said that so far police have managed to find four of the suspected six wolves still on the loose.
The plan to catch the rest relies on using the wolves’ supreme sense of smell, which is thousands of times more sensitive than a human’s, against them, he said.
Dolls used to lure wolves
Singh said: “Dolls resembling children have been placed in cages near areas where the wolves have been spotted. The plan is to lure the wolves in, and as soon as they approach, we’ll capture them.”
Ruksana Sheikh, mother of 7-year-old Firoz, recalled the night when a wolf broke into their home and snatched her son.
Sheikh said: “I tried everything I could to save him. I grabbed at the wolf’s legs, but it didn’t let go. It dragged Firoz almost 200m into a nearby field. I shouted for help, and eventually, the villagers arrived. Only then did the wolf release him.
“He received injuries on the face, neck, head, and ears. After 13 days of treatment at the hospital, he pulled through.”
‘Under close surveillance’
Of the two remaining wolves, one is believed to be in poor health because of a lack of food but the other appears fit, Singh said.
“They are under close surveillance and we’re adjusting our approach based on the evolving conditions. We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to secure them soon,” he said.
“We’ve been tracking these wolves using a combination of sightings, paw prints and infrared drones.
“The captured wolf, a male, showed significant signs of stress due to the crowd and confinement. There were no injuries on its body, but it was visibly distressed. We’ve transferred all the captured wolves to two different zoos.”
The last time India was riven by a spate of wolf attacks was in 1996 when an estimated 38 children were killed in about 78 incidents in Pratapgarh, Jaunpur and Sultanpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
