Lucknow, India — Wolves have killed six children in a forested part of northern India in the last two weeks after being chased out of a neighbouring area where the pack killed seven people and injured more than a dozen, officials said Wednesday.
The six children, aged between two and six years, were mauled after dusk, mostly while sleeping in the courtyards of their mud huts. But in some cases, the children were snatched away from their mothers, said V.K. Chopra, a local forest officer. The attacks occurred in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh state.
Wolves usually avoid human habitats, but dwindling forests may be pushing them closer to villages in search of prey.
Earlier, authorities said wolves killed seven children and wounded more than a dozen people over the last three months in neighbouring Bahraich district, located along the Himalayan foothills.
In Bahraich, the forest department has ordered that the animals be shot on sight. A team of 25 hunters pursuing the wolves has killed three and trapped two others there.
Mr. Chopra said he suspects it is the same pack of wolves that has now moved into Balrampur.
The wolves have been sighted in at least 21 villages of Balrampur, 200 kilometres northeast of Lucknow, the state's capital, Mr. Chopra said.
The new deaths suggest the animals are moving eastward to new areas, he said.
