Boy, three, survives 72 hours alone in Siberian forest with bears and wolves

A young boy has been found alive and well after surviving three days alone in a Siberian forest that is home to bears and wolves.

Tserin Dopchut, three, was found alive and well by officials about 3km (1.8 miles) away from his home village of Khut, in the Piy-Khemsky district of the Tuva republic, Russia, on Wednesday morning.

His rescue was announced by the head of Tuva Republic, Sholban Kara-Ool, who blogged: “Hurray! Little Tserin has been found alive!”

The boy reportedly followed a puppy in to the forests on Sunday morning while under the watchful eye of his grandmother.

Dressed in a shirt and shoes but no coat, he survived on a chocolate bar he had in his pocket and slept in a dry makeshift bed he made himself under a larch tree.

Over 100 people including Russian Emergency Ministry’s rescuers, police, volunteers, joined family members on the frantic hunt for the boy.

A helicopter was deployed to fly over a search area of some 120 square kilometres.

Regional emergencies’ chief Ayas Saryglar told the Siberian Times: “Of course, the situation was very dangerous. There are wolves, and bears in the forest. The bears are now fattening for the winter. They can 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.”

He was found when he responded to the call of his uncle. When discovered his first question was whether his toy car was ok.