The pack of wolves spreading terror in the marshy Terai region south of the Himalayan foothills of Nepal seems to be unstoppable, as the last few canines on the prowl are said to have moved further south from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich to Sitapur, leaving a fresh trail of blood.

The nocturnal animals on Friday morning killed a 70-year-old woman and left four children injured in Sitapur district. Residents of 35 villages in Bahraich district are already in fear as the man-eater wolves have killed nine people in the area
since March.

Chandra Prakash, a resident of Sadarpur in Sitapur bordering Bahraich, told reporters: “Saifulla Begum, 70, had gone out for morning ablution when a wolf attacked her in the agriculture field. She died in the hospital. Before her, the wolves had attacked four children in Dharampur, Garthari and Ganjari in the last 12 hours.”

Chief forest conservator Renuka Singh had said on Thursday evening that six wolves were on an attacking spree but four of them had been caged.

“Two wolves are roaming free. We will catch them soon because our expert teams are already at work,” she had said.

Prakash, however, said: “Locals have seen five wolves in our area in the last 24 hours. We don’t know whether they are the same wolves. The residents of about 20 villages have formed teams of youngsters who keep a vigil in the area from 7pm to 4am every day. However, we don’t relax even after 4am.”

Navneet Kumar, a youth of Mahasi in Bahraich, said: “Many people who don’t have doors in their houses have put up scaffoldings (machaan) for the safety of the children.” It is a structure put up about 12 feet above the ground with the help of bamboo pillars. The wolves can’t jump to that height.

Villagers of Churai Purwa in Mahasi said they had seen at least three wolves.

Arun Kumar Saxena, the minister of state for forests with independent charge, said: “The teams are visiting the villages to boost confidence among locals. There are police, Provincial Armed Constabulary and forest department teams for security. Drones have also been used and village committees activated. The committee members patrol with lights and lathis from 7pm to 4am.”