The mother of a now 5-year-old 'Mowgli girl' revealed that her daughter who survived 12 nights in the bear-infested Siberian wilderness with only her pet dog for protection has made a remarkable recovery'.
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 |
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.
'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.
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 |
'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 |
'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.
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