A toddler who went missing three days ago has thankfully been found alive.
Incredibly the resourceful boy survived three days alone in the Siberian forest which is known to be populated by wolves and bears. The 3-year-old, Tserin Dopchut had just a few morsels of chocolate when he strayed from his great grandmother’s house, reports the Daily Mail.
He was following a puppy when he wandered into the Taiga wilderness in the Tuva region of Russia.
Following the boy’s disappearance, temperatures in the area plummeted to freezing point as a large-scale search for the toddler was organised.
The clever boy survived the exposure by taking refuge in a bed he made among the roots of a larch tree.
Rescuers spent three days searching tirelessly for the boy who was eventually found when his uncle called out his name and the boy answered.
Tuva governor Sholban Kara-Ool told local media that after being reunited with his uncle, the brave child asked if his toy car was okay.
“He said that he had some chocolate which he ate during the first day. Then he found a dry place under a larch tree and slept there between the roots.”
“The situation was very dangerous,” Tuva emergencies’ chief Ayas Saryglar told The Siberian Times. “The River Mynas is fast and cold. If a small child fell in, it would be certain death. There are wolves and bears in the forest. The bears are now fattening for the winter. They attack anything that moves. In addition, it is warm during the day, but at night there are even frosts. If we consider that the kid disappeared during the day, he was not properly dressed – only a shirt and shoes, no coat.”
The village is celebrating Tserin Dopchut’s safe return and have even dubbed him Mowgli. Medical examiners say the boy has suffered no lasting damage resulting from the ordeal.
