Dasha and her whole family

I received the book quite a while ago, read it quite a while ago too, and both shed a tear and smiled. At last I am writing a post about it, though it is not easy. Because it is an entire work of fiction. Or even a biography, since not a single word in it is made up. But I will try to present it briefly, so that those who do not have the opportunity to purchase it can get acquainted with it.

First of all, I would like to thank Pavel Burov for sharing the link to order the book. I had thought it was niche literature, published in a small print run exclusively for the use of the staff and guests of the Daursky Reserve. But it turned out that anyone who wishes can buy the book.

The author is the reserve's director, Vadim Kirilyuk, whose family nursed and raised the manul Dasha. The illustrations are delightful and lively—not AI-generated. And the writing style is beautiful and lyrical; it is real literature. Most importantly, it is written with boundless love for nature. And for people.

The first chapter, “By Mount Budalan.” It describes the Daurian steppe: what grows there and who lives there. A sharply continental climate, temperature swings, winds, rocks, and grasses. And how animals have adapted to life in this harsh yet bountiful land. You can practically see the plateau, feel the gusts of wind, the sounds and smells.

The second chapter, “The Birth of a Manul.” It tells of a mother cat and the birth of her daughter—just one, as often happens in hungry winters. Of parental care. And of how the mamanul chose an old rusty railway car for her den—it seemed safe to her. And everything would have been fine, but no one had forgotten or abandoned that car; people remembered it, and in May they came and used a tractor to move it to a farm for repairs. The mamanul fled from danger. The kitten was found in the car, and the Daursky Nature Reserve was asked for help.

The third chapter, “Dasha’s First Days in Her New Family.” How they nursed a kitten that was 15–18 days old. How they doubted whether she would survive, since there was not a single wildlife rehabilitation center for thousands of kilometers, and they had to rely solely on phone calls to specialists at the Moscow Zoo. At times, it seemed that everything was going badly. But they managed.

The fourth chapter, “A Home as a Whole World.” Rescued from exhaustion and having grown a little, Dasha began exploring the village house. She became attached to Vadim Kirilyuk, his wife, and their adult daughter. Three pet cats also lived in the house: Musya, elderly and ill; her daughter Timka, a city lady; and Murzik, a yard cat. The house cats did not welcome Dasha, though she kept trying to get them to play. After all, she remained a wild little animal to them.

The fifth chapter, “Cats Are Not All Alike.” The story continues. The first outing into nature. The first feeding difficulties: it turned out that the minul lacked calcium, so they had to make her eat bone meal. In nature, no one plucks prey, but at home things are somewhat different.

The sixth chapter, “The Joys of the Yard.” In July, they began getting Dasha used to being outdoors, and took her out into nature for the first time. Her initial fear quickly gave way to “you can’t get her to come home.” To teach her to hunt, they acquired a baby rabbit, which turned out to be one and a half times bigger than Dasha. Instead of hunting, they began playing with each other. And so they remained friends.

The seventh chapter, “Nurturing a Predator Within.” In her third month of life, Dasha played actively, imitating people and cats. She learned to catch mice. But she did not eat them, only played with them. On the other hand, she developed a taste for insects, grasshoppers in particular. They are nutritious, and in lean years wild manuls do not turn up their noses at them.

The eighth chapter, “Between Town and Village.” Dasha’s adoptive “parents” had to leave for work in town every morning. And while little Dasha was locked indoors during that time, once she had grown they were no longer afraid to leave her outside. A predator needs space.

The ninth chapter, “The First Trip to the Reserve.” Dasha turned four months old. At this age, mamanuls already abandon their young—they are fully ready for independent life. Dasha began to be taken to an outpost of the Daursky Nature Reserve. She had no luck with hunting. There were plenty of ground squirrels and pikas, but catching them in the heat of excitement, as a game, was rather difficult. It required a serious approach, stalking. But Dasha played and preferred not to eat anyone. And although she was wary of the open expanses around the outpost, she liked being in nature and was in no hurry to go home. Only on the fifth day did Dasha catch and eat her first pika. After much persuasion.

The tenth chapter, “Not Childhood Illnesses.” First it tells of fattening up, and why it is so important for manuls in the wild. Then came fat poisoning, when Dasha developed diarrhea, dehydration, and apathy. They feared it was toxoplasmosis. It does not particularly harm pet cats or people, but in zoos entire litters of manul kittens die from toxoplasmosis. Vadim Kirilyuk himself had experience nursing four minuls, two of whom died of toxoplasmosis.

Dasha was spared; the diagnosis was not confirmed, although she completed a course of antibiotics just in case. But Dasha lost a great deal of weight. What helped was buying her a live quail. The thrill of hunting restored both her spirits and her appetite.

The eleventh chapter, “The Test of Freedom.” At last, Dasha was brought back to the outpost. Vadim Kirilyuk was with her, along with local staff and the pet cats she had grown up with. But there was a sense that the saddened Dasha already understood where everything was heading. Still, she quickly remembered how to hunt and eat prey.

On the third day, Musya, the elderly keeper of the hearth, fell ill. She underwent surgery, but grew worse, and during the night she passed away. Bewildered Timka, the second cat, ran away for two days, but fortunately was found.

Dasha, meanwhile, was in her element. The first frosts turned her fur into a reliable coat. It also explains why manuls have small ears: first, of course, it helps them stay hidden, and second, the tips of their ears do not freeze in winds and frosts of minus 50 degrees Celsius.

The twelfth chapter, “The First Night Outdoors.” Dasha became increasingly free and independent. She forgot the new people at the outpost, grew attached to no one, and did not even try to. She was growing distant. Hunting occupied her more and more. Vadim Kirilyuk hoped that she would live on her own, but still near the outpost; that she would know a quail was waiting for her in the garage and would occasionally appear in view. But those hopes quickly faded. Manuls are solitary by nature. Every manul family breaks apart, and each one goes off in search of its own hunting territory. Former mamanuls and minuls become competitors in the struggle for food. Instinct called Dasha to move away from her adoptive family. They no longer played with her or picked her up, and she herself did not seek contact with people. By the cold weather, she had caught up with her peers in weight and height. Young manuls must weigh at least 2.7 kg before winter so as not to die of exhaustion by spring. They lose more than a third of their weight. But if all goes well, in April–May they have kittens of their own, and life begins a new cycle.

The thirteenth chapter, “Without Saying Goodbye.” On the eleventh day of her stay at the outpost, September 19, Dasha left, choosing complete freedom. She had learned to hunt, to hide food for later, and had known from birth how to stay hidden; she trusted no one. The reserve is a good place to live, where people will not disturb her. Quail are always waiting at the outpost, and camera traps have been set up, but Dasha never returned. From now on, her life is in her paws alone.

At the end of the book, there are photographs and information about charitable foundations, animal conservation programs, and educational outreach. There is also a QR code for anyone wishing to support all these initiatives.

Thank you for looking beneath the book’s cover with me and taking the time to at least get a brief introduction to Dasha’s story.