Lost boy, 4, survives 6 days in the wilderness with wild animals

A 4-year-old boy has miraculously survived after spending six days lost in a wilderness filled with deadly predators.

The child somehow managed to wander over 11 miles from his home in Asa, which is close to the edge of the Tsavo East wildlife preserve in Kenya.

He was found 6 days later by pilot Roan Carr-Hartley, who works for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an orphan elephant rescue and wildlife rehabilitation program based in Tsavo.

The boy had got separated from his brothers during a storm as they returned home from a day of herding livestock, Carr-Hartley told Newsweek. Asa’s local chief had contacted the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to ask if they could use their aircraft to help the search party combing the area.

Carr-Hartley said: “A search party went out looking but couldn’t find him, and began to follow tracks. They did an amazing job tracking him for countless days without food.

“It was an unforgiving environment for any person to be alone, let alone a child so young.”

The pilot wrote: “With no way of communicating with them while I was in the air, I had organised for the search party to walk with a white cloth tied to a long stick, which would make it easier to find them in the dense bush.

“After locating the group in this area I began my search. Four hours of scanning the sea of vegetation revealed nothing but an empty fuel tank and various animals, including hyenas and jackals.

“It was an unforgiving environment for any person to be alone, let alone a child so young. However, because of heavy rains, there was no shortage of surface water. This at least gave me some peace of mind that the boy would be able to find water.”.