The really wild show

Dragayeva has long been interested in technology, education and nature. About t wo ye a r s a go she started brainstorming with a friend about what they could do that combined these t hre e components. Virr y was t he result, launched in early 2015.

“We wanted to educ ate children about wildlife, animals and nature,” she says. “We thought you can use technology in a meaningful way to nur ture that interest , bringing children closer to wildlife and also teaching them about themselves. We wanted to turn them i n t o mo r e e mpathetic, c re a t ive a dul t s . ” She came up with the script for the games with a psychologist to ensure it aids children’s development.

The apps’s young fans are a devoted bunch. Dragayeva tells me how a threeyear-old boy went to the supermarket and asked his mother to buy meat for Limun the lion, and that even a five- year-old vegan was happy to feed him repeatedly.

The app now has a famous devotee too — actor Dominic West. “I spent all morning on Virry with my boys and we love it,” the star of The Affair has said. “We fed a lion and watched a rhino live, all from our living room!”

Dragayeva hopes to spark a long-term interest in conservation among the