'Now I feel better'

Karina Chikitova made headlines around the world after The Siberian Times revealed her ordeal when she got lost in remote forests alive with  bears and wolves. 

After 11 nights, she was found by rescuers in a grassy hole in the taiga in Russia's coldest region, the Sakha Republic, or Yakutia. 

During the cool nights out in the wild, she huddled up to family dog Naida. The animal eventually went back to her village, evidently to summon help, but leaving the three year old completely alone. 

In late July, Karina had followed her father into the taiga from their far-flung village, though he was unaware she did so. Then she got hopelessly lost, even though when was only a few kilometres from her home. 

Now five weeks after the end of her ordeal, Karina has been discharged from the second of two hospitals in Yakutsk where she was treated with her mother Talina close by her side. 

As our new pictures show, she is happier and healthier than when she was plucked to safety, weak from lack of food, and with mosquito bites covering her face. 

Her doctor at the City Children's Hospital, Fedora Gogoleva, said: 'We did not ask her too much about what happened. She tries to forget it. We asked only how she slept, how she feels.' 

'Her appetite has improved, she gained weight and feels good. She also talked with our psychologist here.'

The doctor puts her survival down to her experience in the outdoors as a Yakutian village girl.

'The family live far away in a remote village, not in the city, and it makes its mark,' she said. 'She was raised close to nature.

'Certainly she went with grandmother and parents to the forest, to gather berries. Perhaps this is why she was not afraid of the forest. 

'Karina herself is a very strong girl, has a strong-willed character. This probably helped her to survive.'

She added: 'The girl is communicative, active, her emotions are positive. She gets along well with other children, plays with them. Especially with her new friend Gena....

'She is quite independent, talks like an adult and we think that she is well brought up.'

Lyubov Kolesova, her occupational therapist, said: 'She doesn't say and remember much about this accident. 

'She talks about how lovely her mother is and about her home. She says what she likes, which colours and animals, All her pictures are colourful. You can see she is a  talented, creative person.'

Now she is on her way home to the village Neryuktyainsk, Olekminsky district, for a reunion with the dog which saved her live. 

Her mother Talina said that she had been out in the fields on the day Karina disappeared. 

'Karina was being cared for by her granny,' she said. 'My husband left on a trip to another village and she was convinced he had taken Karina with him.'

It took several days to establish phone contact and discover that, in fact, the girl was missing. 

The search for Karina began.

When the five month old puppy came back, tired and exhausted, after more than a week, the rescuers feared the worst. 

In fact, the dog was trying to tell the family that Karina was alive and needed to be rescued - but Naida proved useless in remembering where she was. Sniffer dogs were deployed to try and trace the scent, but the animals are trained for tracking people, and did not follow Naida's trail. 

The rescuers had to be guarded by armed police. 

'The forest around Olom is full of bears,' said rescuer Albert Semyonov. '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.'

The breakthrough came when rescuers found Karina's footprint on the bank of a river when she had gone to drink water. Next to her print, was the paw mark of a dog. This gave rescuers hope they were in the right area, and next days they found Karina.

With special thanks to YSIA news agency