The on-the-run Terai region wolves killed a child and left an elderly woman injured on Monday morning in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.

With the latest death, the nocturnal carnivores have killed 10 people and injured 51 in the district since March.

Two-year-old Anjali was sleeping with her mother Meenu Devi at Navnav Garethi village in Mahasi when a wolf attacked her at 4am, taking advantage of the lack of a door. It dragged Anjali for about 2km into the forest. A team from the forest department located the partially eaten body of the child with the help of a drone.

A few hours before the child was taken away, Kamala Devi, 60, was attacked at Barabigaha village in Hardi. Kamala was taken to Mahasi Community Health Centre, where she was referred to Maharana Suheldev Autonomous State Medical College in Bahraich.

The wolves have been prowling Mahasi and Hardi villages of Bahraich since March. Forest department teams had captured four wolves last week and claimed only two more remained to be caged. They were assumed to be roaming in and around the villages.

The wolves had attacked Paras Kumar, a seven-year-old child in the adjoining Manjara Tand village, and Kunnu Lal, 55, in Maikupurva on Sunday night. Both the villages fall under Hardi. Kumar and Lal are in hospital.

Divisional forest officer Ajit Pratap Singh said: “We are at work. Several teams of experts are working round the clock to catch the wild animals. We have asked the villagers to stay indoors at night and lock their doors before going to bed.”

He added that only two wolves were attacking the people. But villagers claimed they had spotted at least four in a group moving together on Saturday night.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with forest department officers on Monday and called the series of killings a “menace”.

“The CM has asked us to ensure proper treatment for the injured and immediate compensation as per the needs of the families of those who were killed by the wolves.
He has also asked the district administration to conduct a survey and ensure there
are doors in every house,” said an officer.