Indian authorities deploy drones to hunt killer wolves after nine people, mostly children, are killed in a series of brutal attacks in Uttar Pradesh state.
LUCKNOW: Indian forest rangers have deployed drones to track man-eating wolves after nine people, mostly children, were killed in recent weeks.
The latest victim was a 10-month-old girl snatched by a wolf in Bahraich district while sleeping beside her mother on Saturday.
The child was later found dead in a field.
A day earlier, a five-year-old boy was taken from outside his home in plain sight of his mother.
He was found mauled in a sugarcane field and died on the way to hospital.
Officials said these attacks followed the same pattern seen across villages since September.
The deaths raise the toll from suspected wolf attacks in Bahraich to at least nine in three months.
The victims also included an elderly couple.
Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav said authorities have deployed drones, camera traps and shooters in the area.
“The behaviour of wolves seems to have changed. Of late, they are seen active in daytime, which is strange,” Yadav said.
Other forest officials said the animals appeared unusually bold.
Bahraich saw a similar wave of attacks last year, with wolves killing at least nine people and injuring several others.
The grassland plains of Bahraich district lie about 50 kilometres south of the Nepal border.
Experts say wolves attack humans or livestock only as a last resort when starving.
They prefer less dangerous prey such as small antelopes.
Most of India’s roughly 3,000 wolves survive outside protected areas, often near people.
The animals, listed as vulnerable, are smaller than Himalayan wolves and can be mistaken for jackals.
Villagers in Bahraich say they now live in mortal fear of wolves lurking near their homes.
“Our children are not safe even inside the house,” one resident said.
“We just want the attacks to stop.”
