04:27Mandatory credit: 00:00 - 00:29 - Aleksandr Chubakov
A wild baby lynx was found by a local in an abandoned house in the village of Zalari in Russia's Irkutsk region,
Aleksandr Chubakov explained how he made the discovery, and how he was forming a bond with the animal.
"I'm restoring my grandfather's old house…nobody's lived there for 40 years. So I started to restore it. And on one of my trips I had the job of changing the floors and removing the old ones. We removed the floor and underneath there was a little lump, a lynx. All of a sudden it came out, it started to run, we started to catch it. Well, it was unexpected," Chubakov admitted.
Footage captured on August 29 shows him picking up the lynx while video from September 22 shows the kitten eating meat and playing with a teddy bear.
"She growled a lot at first, and the letter 'r' was clearly audible in her growls. And then we had [called her] Kira. Kira, Kiryuha. And now even when she is grasping, she is no longer digging her claws in, no longer sinking her teeth in. She used to do it all the time before, and it was even a little bit painful," he said.
A month on, he admitted Kira was now 'a full owner of the house'.
"In general, she's friendly. Friendly, affectionate. <...> She's not afraid anymore, she can come up. When you're alone, she puts her head down and starts purring and licking you. Right, Kira? Well, now she is probably worried about the camera," Chubakov added.
"The bond between us is getting stronger every day. I think that if she stays with us for a little longer, it will be difficult for us to let her go elsewhere," he said.
He is currently talking with reserves and wildlife rehabilitation centres about her future, with winter already drawing in - and said he was even looking into how to keep the lynx legally and create a special enclosure for her to live with him permanently.
Purr-fect find! Baby lynx found in abandoned house in Siberia
A wild baby lynx was found by a local in an abandoned house in the village of Zalari in Russia's Irkutsk region,
Aleksandr Chubakov explained how he made the discovery, and how he was forming a bond with the animal.
"I'm restoring my grandfather's old house…nobody's lived there for 40 years. So I started to restore it. And on one of my trips I had the job of changing the floors and removing the old ones. We removed the floor and underneath there was a little lump, a lynx. All of a sudden it came out, it started to run, we started to catch it. Well, it was unexpected," Chubakov admitted.
Footage captured on August 29 shows him picking up the lynx while video from September 22 shows the kitten eating meat and playing with a teddy bear.
"She growled a lot at first, and the letter 'r' was clearly audible in her growls. And then we had [called her] Kira. Kira, Kiryuha. And now even when she is grasping, she is no longer digging her claws in, no longer sinking her teeth in. She used to do it all the time before, and it was even a little bit painful," he said.
A month on, he admitted Kira was now 'a full owner of the house'.
"In general, she's friendly. Friendly, affectionate. <...> She's not afraid anymore, she can come up. When you're alone, she puts her head down and starts purring and licking you. Right, Kira? Well, now she is probably worried about the camera," Chubakov added.
"The bond between us is getting stronger every day. I think that if she stays with us for a little longer, it will be difficult for us to let her go elsewhere," he said.
He is currently talking with reserves and wildlife rehabilitation centres about her future, with winter already drawing in - and said he was even looking into how to keep the lynx legally and create a special enclosure for her to live with him permanently.
Mandatory credit: 00:00 - 00:29 - Aleksandr Chubakov
A wild baby lynx was found by a local in an abandoned house in the village of Zalari in Russia's Irkutsk region,
Aleksandr Chubakov explained how he made the discovery, and how he was forming a bond with the animal.
"I'm restoring my grandfather's old house…nobody's lived there for 40 years. So I started to restore it. And on one of my trips I had the job of changing the floors and removing the old ones. We removed the floor and underneath there was a little lump, a lynx. All of a sudden it came out, it started to run, we started to catch it. Well, it was unexpected," Chubakov admitted.
Footage captured on August 29 shows him picking up the lynx while video from September 22 shows the kitten eating meat and playing with a teddy bear.
"She growled a lot at first, and the letter 'r' was clearly audible in her growls. And then we had [called her] Kira. Kira, Kiryuha. And now even when she is grasping, she is no longer digging her claws in, no longer sinking her teeth in. She used to do it all the time before, and it was even a little bit painful," he said.
A month on, he admitted Kira was now 'a full owner of the house'.
"In general, she's friendly. Friendly, affectionate. <...> She's not afraid anymore, she can come up. When you're alone, she puts her head down and starts purring and licking you. Right, Kira? Well, now she is probably worried about the camera," Chubakov added.
"The bond between us is getting stronger every day. I think that if she stays with us for a little longer, it will be difficult for us to let her go elsewhere," he said.
He is currently talking with reserves and wildlife rehabilitation centres about her future, with winter already drawing in - and said he was even looking into how to keep the lynx legally and create a special enclosure for her to live with him permanently.