A now 5-year-old 'Mowgli girl' who survived 12 nights in the bear-infested Siberian wilderness with only her pet dog for protection has made a remarkable recovery, her mother revealed.
Last August, she was found hungry, exhausted and covered in mosquito bites lying in a bed of grass almost two weeks after wandering off from her remote village home.
Her survival story made headlines around the world.
Now 5, she is unfazed by her experience despite a real threat from bears and wolves, said her mother Talina, 22.
She was saved by her dog Naida, which had followed her into the Siberian taiga and kept her warm at night. She ate berries and drank water from rivers to survive.
The girl's mother said Tuesday:
'She has an incredibly strong character. Even when she was found, she didn't have much fear in her eyes. Now she is just like she was before, runs around with other kids, speaks a lot and doesn't give away that she ever went through such a stressful experience. But she demands not to ask her about those days and gets nervous if people insist.'
This was when she was found
The 4 year old village girl became lost with her pet after following her father on a trip into the wild, but he didn't know that she had followed him. Her grandmother who was caring for her thought he had taken her on his trip.
She had mosquito bites all over
Naida, the dog followed the girl and loyally stayed with her, returning home after nine days to summon help, but the pet was unable to show rescuers where she was.
Three days after the dog returned, rescuers found her footprint next to a paw print close to a river, where they had drunk water. So the emergency workers knew they were in the right area of the Sakha Republic, Russia's largest region and only slightly smaller than India. She was eventually found hungry, exhausted and covered in mosquito bites lying in a grassy hole.
'Why did you leave me?' Karina chided the dog when they were eventually reunited after returned home after a lengthy period in hospital. Yet the dog's return inspired emergency teams to redouble their efforts to seek out Karina.
Talina said this week, interviewed by YSIA.RU: 'She was helped by our dog Naida, who slept by her side and helped her not to freeze to death.'
There are many threats in the forests around Olom, the village where Karina lived with her mother, notably bears and wolves.
'Karina spent summers in Olom since she was seven months old, perhaps this helped as well. She grew up there, she knew the place really well,' she said.
Big relief when she was found alive
The mother hit back at criticism of her on social media not realising her daughter was lost. 'I don't pay attention to it, I don't have time to follow social networks,' she said.
'Karina has also taken such an amount of attention with difficulty, she ran away from the cameras at first. At least now she can pose, but she still refuses to speak about that time in taiga.' Talina insisted: 'I always believed that she will be found. Many stopped believing that she was alive, but as a mother I felt that she soon will be found.'
Emotional rescue worker
One year after her daughter went missing, she said: I'd like to say my deepest and most sincere thank you to all who took part in the search for Karina, and who supported the team, and paid attention to this case. A special thank you to Artyom Borisov, he was the first to spot Karina. To search for a tiny girl in the area overgrown with impassable bushes, high grass and tussocks was literally like looking for a needle in a haystack.'
'The forest around Olom is full of bears,' said rescuer Albert Semyonov, who revealed his men needed armed guards in looking for Karina. 'Close to the gunners we felt somehow calmer. However, the thought of bears immediately switched to another concern: somewhere in the forest was this helpless child.'
Karina now says: 'I don't want to be photographed, I don't like it. Why does everybody ask me what I've been doing in the taiga on those days?'
I am glad she was found alive and she's doing very well.
Siberia Times
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