At least nine people have been reported killed by wolves in the past two months, eight of them children.
In the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, terrified residents are staying awake at night. With the help of guard dogs and firecrackers, they hope to scare off the wolves if they appear. Others have set fire to piles of dried elephant dung, hoping the smell will deter the wolves.
The latest attack occurred early on Sunday, when a six-year-old boy who was sleeping on his family's veranda was attacked.
I woke up and saw my son in the animal's jaws. I acted instinctively and pulled out my son with all the strength I could muster, says his mother Gudiya to the Times of India.
The "killer wolves" have caused panic. In the neighboring state of Bihar, a mob has beaten a jackal to death, believing the much smaller animal to be a wolf.
Wolves usually only attack humans or livestock as a last resort when they are starving. But this year's monsoon rains have flooded the wolves' usual hunting grounds and driven them towards more populated agricultural areas, according to experts.
So far, four wolves have been caught.
