The incredible story of the four children aged 1 to 13 who survived alone in the rainforest for 40 days after a plane crash that killed their mother has caught the world’s attention.
Miraculously, the children were not injured and suffered only from insect bites, dehydration and malnutrition before being found and rescued by the Colombian army after a massive search.
This feat is all the more impressive considering that the Amazon rainforest is home to all kinds of dangerous wildlife, including jaguars, cougars, snakes and other predators, as well as armed groups that smuggle drugs and terrorize the local population.
The siblings, Lesly, 13, Soleiny, nine, Tien Noriel, four, and baby Cristin who had his first birthday while lost in the rainforest, are from the Huitoto Indigenous group, will have used various survival techniques to put themselves in to keep alive.
The children’s story has stunned the world and here MailOnline takes a look at how they survived a whopping 40 days in the wild – with no adult help.
Four indigenous children (pictured) who were missing for six weeks in the Colombian Amazon jungle after a plane crash have been found alive
The plane crash happened in Solano, Caqueta. The aircraft was found destroyed on May 16
The first signs of life:
The first signs that the children had not been killed in the May 1 small plane crash, which killed their mother, the pilot and an Indigenous leader, were small pieces of fruit left near the plane wreckage.
The small pieces of partially eaten fruit told searchers that human life had recently been found nearby.
The fact that the children’s bodies were not found near the plane also offered hope that they had survived the crash – sparking a massive search and rescue effort.
Some 200 soldiers and indigenous people with knowledge of the terrain have combed a dense jungle area some 320 square kilometers (124 square miles) – about twice the size of Washington DC.
The crash is believed to have happened due to a mechanical failure on May 1.
The deadly dangers they faced:
The Amazon rainforest, which covers only 1 percent of the Earth’s surface, is home to 10 percent of all animal species currently known.
In the Amazon region, a new species is discovered on average once every three days.
Many of these animals can pose a risk to humans, including jaguars, cougars, snakes and other predators. Smaller forms of wildlife, including insects such as mosquitoes, can also make a person very ill.
The children had been missing for over a month, sparking a massive search to find them
In addition to the risk to animal life, humans also pose a threat in the jungle, as criminal gangs who trade drugs and illegally clear the rainforest terrorize the local population.
Without clean water or medical supplies, the children were at risk of contracting, if injured, tropical diseases such as malaria, leprosy or viral hepatitis.
The children were lost during the rainy season, with temperatures averaging 25C (77F), which could cause severe dehydration.
How they turned to their people’s ancient jungle traditions to survive:
The children are members of the Huitoto (or Witoto) indigenous group and have been taught jungle skills from birth.
Their grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, had said that the children are well acquainted with the jungle, having learned to hunt and fish from an early age.
Indigenous community members held traditional ceremonies where they “speak to the jungle” asking him to give up the children during the desperate search.
The Huitoto, who first came into contact with European conquest in the early 17th century, once consisted of 100 villages and 31 tribes, though their numbers dwindled to 50,000 people by the early 19th century.
In the 1990s, invaders on their land threatened the Huitoto way of life and their traditional slash-and-burn farming style, so the Colombian government established several reservations for Huitotos. The men hunt with blowguns and shotguns.
The culture has been studied for its durability and efficiency, as well as its focus on relationships with the jungle.
The ingenious tactics that searchers used to boost the children’s morale:
Ingenious searchers, faced with an area larger than Washington DC to comb over, used a range of tactics to locate the missing children.
Their grandmother’s voice was played from planes above the jungle during the search to reassure the frightened youths they were being searched for.
She later told reporters, “I never lost hope, I always supported the search. I feel very happy, I thank President Petro and my ‘countrymen’ who have gone through so many difficulties.’
There were no signs of the youths when the wreckage of the plane was recovered by the Colombian military – sparking a massive search operation in the southeast of the country to find them.
Rescuers also fell off 10,000 pamphlets into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the children’s native Huitoto language telling them to stay.
The leaflets also contain survival tips and the army has dropped food packages and bottled water for the children.
Powerful searchlights were also shined in the area “so that the minors can approach us,” search team member Colonel Fausto Avellaneda told the TV show Noticias Caracol.
The clues leading to their discovery:
Photos released by the military show everyday items such as a baby bottle, a hair band and a pair of scissors on the jungle floor.
The children’s belongings helped reassure military searchers that they were alive — and that the search teams were closing in.
A photo released by the Colombian military showed a footprint found in the forest in a rural area of the municipality of Solano, Caqueta, in southeastern Colombia
A baby bottle and scissors were among the items rescuers found that gave them hope of survivors as they searched the jungle for the missing children.
Sniffer dogs and three helicopters were deployed to search for the children, but wildlife, torrential rain and tree heights extended the rescue operation
Muddy footprints also helped give clues to where the kids were.
They also provided important scent clues for the sniffer dogs used to find the children.
Three helicopters and sniffer dogs were brought in to join the search, but bad weather during the rainy season, wildlife and tree heights had slowed efforts.
But on Friday, the rescuers’ efforts were rewarded when one of the rescue dogs that had been on their trail led soldiers to the group, the president confirmed.