'Mowgli' girl, 5, who survived 12 nights in the Siberian wilderness

Last August, she was found hungry, exhausted and covered in mosquito bites lying in a bed of grass almost two weeks after wandering off from her remote village home.

Her survival story made headlines around the world.

Now five, she is unfazed by her experience despite a real threat from bears and wolves, said her mother Talina, 22.

She was saved by her dog Naida, which had followed her into the Siberian taiga and kept her warm at night. She ate berries and drank water from rivers.

After nine days, the dog left Karina to find its way to the remote family home in Olom village, inspiring rescuers to redouble their efforts to find the brave girl.

Three days later she was found, weak but safe, after which she underwent lengthy medical treatment to recover her lost weight.

'Karina has an incredibly strong character', said her mother, reported The Siberian Times. 

'Even when she was found, she didn't have much fear in her eyes.

'Now she is just like she was before, runs around with other kids, speaks a lot and doesn't give away that she ever went through such a stressful experience.

'But she demands people do not ask her about those days and gets nervous if people insist.' 

Karina was reluctant to speak this week when asked about her epic survival in Russia's largest region, the diamond-rich Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, almost the size of India.

'I don't want to be photographed, I don't like it. Why does everybody ask me what I've been doing in the taiga on those days?' she said.  

Talina said: 'She was helped by our dog Naida, who slept by her side and helped her not to freeze to death. 

'Karina spent summers in Olom since she was seven months old, perhaps this helped as well.

'I always believed that she would be found. Many stopped believing that she was alive, but as a mother I felt that she soon would be found.' 

She used the first anniversary to thank rescuers who had not given up with search which was like looking for a 'needle in a haystack'.

The mother hit back at criticism of her on social media not realising her daughter was lost.

'I don't pay attention to it, I don't have time to follow social networks,' she said.

Karina had followed her father into the wilderness, without him realising.

Her grandmother, who was in charge of the child at the time, thought the girl's father knew she was with him.

'The forest around Olom is full of bears,' said rescuer Albert Semyonov, who revealed his men needed armed guards in the hunt for Karina.

'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.'

In December when Karina was reunited with her dog, she chided the pet: 'Why did you leave me?'

(dailymail.co.uk)