A TODDLER HAS been rescued after spending three days alone in a forbidding Siberian forest populated by wolves and bears.
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His rescue was personally announced by the head of Tuva Republic, Sholban Kara-Ool, who blogged: “Hurray!”
In June, a seven-year-old Japanese boy was found alive in bear-infested woods, six days after being left there by his parents as punishment for bad behaviour.
The boy was found early Wednesday some 3 kilometers away from the village, when he answered his uncle, who was involved in the search and calling for him. Dopchut disappeared after playing with dogs near his family home under the supervision of his great-grandmother and is thought to have followed a young puppy into the forest.
For 72 hours the child braved plummeting temperatures, the threat of wild animals and the danger of falling into a fast-flowing river, the River Mynas.
A helicopter was deployed to fly over a search area of some 120 square kilometres.
He has not suffered any injuries but Ayas Saryglar, the regional emergencies chief, said that the boy survived a “very dangerous” ordeal. The bears are now fattening for the winter. “They can attack anything that moves”, an official who works for the emergency services said. In addition, it is warm during the day, but at night there are frosts. If we consider that the kid disappeared during the day, he was not properly dressed – only a shirt and shoes, no coat’.
Tserin was discover when he esponded to the calls of his uncle as he scoured the area alongside more than rescuers and volunteers. He recognised his uncle’s voice calling out for him and, after a hug, immediately asked if his toy vehicle was ok. He said that he had some chocolate which he ate during the first day’.
Rescuers were quick to praise the toddler’s initiative – he found a dry place under a larch tree and slept between its roots.
“He was given the second name of Mowgli”. Within hours, authorities launched a large search operation involving hundreds of people.
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His village now plans a party to welcome him home.
