The wolves of Bahraich have become bolder, continuing to kill at night but also springing out of the bushes in daylight, causing many scared villages to stay pinned indoors virtually through the day.

Hours after a wolf killed a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Baba Patao village on Wednesday night, a stray wolf attacked and killed a calf in neighbouring Manjhara Taukali Gandujhala on Thursday afternoon.

Soni, the girl, was sitting beside her mother outside their home after dinner when the wolf pounced on her and dragged her into an agricultural field.

“We rescued and took the girl to hospital where she died during treatment,” Ram Balak, a villager, said.

“We had informed the forest department about the presence of the wild animal in our area but they didn’t do anything to catch it.”

He said the villagers had formed three teams of youths on Thursday to keep round-the-clock vigil.

“They have been scouring the area, carrying sticks and spears, in three shifts. Still, we feel unsafe. We stay behind closed doors, abandoning many of the daily necessities for which we need to go out,” Balak said.

On Tuesday afternoon, a wolf had dragged three-year-old Prince towards the crop fields in Kaisarganj. The villagers chased it down and rescued the child, who is under treatment at a hospital.

Shobharam, his father, said: “Earlier, the wolves entered the villages at night but now they are attacking us even during the daytime. They are getting bolder.”

He said seven villagers had suffered injuries trying to save Prince.

“They too are under treatment at a local hospital. There is fear everywhere. People have stopped going out even for their daily work in the fields,” he added.

Wolves have killed at least six children and a dozen cows, calves and goats since June, and left over 20 people injured.

Divisional forest officer Ram Singh Yadav said: “We have formed 32 teams to capture the wolves, which have strayed out of the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary. Wolves are cunning animals but we hope to catch them soon.”

Last year, a pack of six wolves had killed at least 10 villagers in the same area. The forest department caught five of them alive while a sixth died of injuries suffered during the capture.