The Siberian forest is so big that one could easily get lost with just a few steps.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to a 4-year-old Karina Chikitova.
A four-year-old girl has survived 11 days and nights on her own in the Siberian taiga, which is full of wild bears and wolves.
Karina Chikitova was saved by her puppy who was keeping her warm for more than a week before leaving her to return home safely.
One day, Karina wandered into the dense Siberian forest but got lost. Hundreds of people searched for her, however, she was not found.
Karina was very scared, but she wasn’t alone. Her dog Kyrachaan deterred the wolves and bears. He also kept her warm in the cold temperature. To survive, they both fed on water and fresh berries.
The girl survived eating wild berries and drinking river water in territory roamed by bears and wolves, according to The Siberian Times.
‘Rescuers searching for her confronted a bear highlighting the extraordinary danger she faced’, it said.
She suffered from mosquito bites and scratches to her feet.
Karina wandered away from her home in a remote village accompanied by her puppy whose name has not been revealed despite its heroism.
The small girl was lying on the long grasses, which are common in the summer in the south-west of the Sakha Republic, Russia’s largest region.
Due to tall grasses made it impossible for search helicopters and drones to spot Karina who wore only a red undershirt and purple stockings when she was found.
Karina’s mother believed her daughter had accompanied her father Rodion when he left on a trip on July 27 to his distant native village.
The father did not realize his daughter had followed him with her puppy and she became lost in the taiga.
Experts say her chances of survival for such a long period were minimal.
Karina’s family and the rescue teams were distraught when the dog returned to the girl’s village of Olom in Olyokminsky district, some nine days after Karina had been missing.
The animal’s instinct to seek help was vital to saving Karina.
‘Two days before we found Karina her puppy came back home,’ said Afanasiy Nikolayev, spokesman for the Sakha Republic Rescue Service.
‘That was the moment when our hearts sank because we thought at least with her dog Karina had chances to survive – night in Yakutia are cold and some areas have already gone into minus temperatures.
‘If she was to hug her puppy, we thought, this would have given her a chance to stay warm during nights and survive.
‘So when her dog came back we thought that’s it – even if she was alive – and chances were slim – now she would have lost all hopes. Our hearts truly and deeply sank.’
However, the dog guided the rescuers to the stranded girl.
‘It was Karina’s puppy that helped the adults find the girl,’ said a report by NTV news.
‘When it came back home two days ago her family had lost hope, thinking this meant Karina had no chance.
‘But then it was the puppy that showed rescuers the way to Karina, and in the morning she was found.’
The television report said Karina ‘was conscious and looked surprisingly well.
‘She was given food and drinks, and then with her mother, she was first sent to the district hospital and then to Yakutsk, the regional capital.
‘She doesn’t want to speak about the time she spent in the taiga, or not yet. The only thing she said that she was eating berries and drank water from rivers.’
Nikolayev said the rescuers guided by the dog spotted traces of her bare feet and this helped them find her.
‘We began searches, thinking that if she had lost her shoes she would try and stay away from the deep forest because there are a lot of sharp sticks there,’ he said.
Suddenly with the dog’s help ‘we saw Karina sitting in the grass’, he said.
‘We rushed to her, got her a little tea and grabbed her to run back to the car and doctors.’
Nikolayev said: ‘I carried Karina myself to the car, and she was light as a bird.
‘She weighed hardly ten kilograms – but amazingly she was fully conscious.’
Ekaterina Andreeva, a psychologist with the rescue team, said: ‘We can say that the girl’s mind was not hurt.
She is talking, she reacts normally to everything around her.
‘She recalls what happened to her.’
Amazingly she suffered no major physical injury though she has scratches on her feet.
She had been badly bitten by mosquitoes and other insects.
The taiga is home to Russia’s largest populations of brown bear, moose, wolf, red fox, and reindeer.
It is one of the most extensive natural forests left in the world.
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