Four people, including three children, have been injured in a series of human-wildlife conflict incidents across different areas of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Bahraich forest division, officials here said Friday.

The incidents took place between Thursday evening and late night, they said.

A Katarniaghat official confirmed two leopard attacks, while authorities from the Bahraich forest division said the incidents may have involved jackals or dogs. However, villagers claim the attacks were by wolves.

The first incident occurred in Harakhapur village within the Katarniaghat range, where a farmer, Madhusudan (35), was attacked by a leopard while working alone in a field, B Shivshankar, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Katarniaghat, told PTI.

"He sustained injuries to his neck and was initially admitted to a local government hospital before being referred to Bahraich Medical College," Shivshankar said.

The second incident took place in the Sujoli range at Ayodhya Purwa village. Sahibha (13) was sleeping in the outer courtyard of her house when a leopard attacked her, an official said.

The commotion alerted her family and nearby villagers, causing the leopard to flee into the fields, the official said.

Sahibha suffered serious neck injuries and was subsequently referred to the trauma centre in Lucknow for better treatment, the official added.

Shivshankar said that both injured individuals are in stable condition, and the department has provided financial assistance for their treatment.

He advised villagers living near the forest to exercise extra caution.

In the Bahraich forest division, two incidents of human-wildlife conflict were reported in the wolf-affected area.

According to villagers, six-month-old Aroosh, who had come to his maternal grandmother's home in Ghoomni village three days ago, was attacked while his mother, Phoolmati, was feeding him late at night. A wild animal attempted to pull the child, but nearby villagers arrived in time, forcing the animal to retreat, they alleged.

The fourth incident occurred in Nakha village, where Mamta (5) was attacked while sleeping outside with her sister around 2 am. She was also rescued by the family after they raised an alarm.

The injured children were admitted to the district hospital and are reported to be out of danger.

The forest department maintained that the injuries were caused by jackals or dogs, despite villagers insisting that wolves were responsible for the attacks.

Ajit Pratap Singh, the Divisional Forest Officer, said, "The level of injuries on the children indicates an animal attack. Doctors have also mentioned that the wounds appear to be from a bite." "However, based on the type of wounds, we can assert that the attacking animal was not a wolf," he added.

Thousands of residents in the 50 villages along the Ghaghra River floodplain in the Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich are living in fear of wolf attacks. Since July 17, eight people, including seven children, have lost their lives to such attacks, while nearly three dozen others have been injured.

The forest department claims that five out of six man-eating wolves responsible for the attacks have been rescued, with only one remaining to be captured.

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