The four Colombian Indigenous children, who were found over the weekend 40 days after their plane crashed in the Amazon jungle, actually survived eating seeds, roots, and plants they knew were edible thanks to their upbringing, according to Indigenous people.

According to the National Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia (OPIAC), ‘The survival of the children is a sign of the knowledge and relationship with the natural environment that is taught starting in the mother’s womb’.

The local knowledge of Indigenous adults, who were involved in the search alongside Colombian troops, also played a part in the children being found alive.

The four siblings, aged 13, nine and four, as well as a now 12-month-old baby, survived a small plane crash on May 1 that took the lives of the pilot, their mother and a third adult. The children’s family clung to the hope that the siblings’ familiarity with the jungle would see them through.