10 Feral Human Children Raised by Animals

Posted: 13 Jul 2010 07:19 AM PDT

A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age,
and has no (or little) experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human
language. Some feral children have been confined by people (usually their own parents); in some
cases this child abandonment was due to the parents’ rejection of a child’s severe intellectual or
physical impairment. Feral children may have experienced severe child abuse or trauma before
being abandoned or running away. Others are alleged to have been brought up by animals; some
are said to have lived in the wild on their own. Just over one hundred incidents have been
reported in total, here we enumerate 10 of them who got famous in their own times.

10. Dina Sanichar, the Indian Wolf Boy

Date found: 1867
Age when found: 6
Location: Sekandra, India
Years in the wild: 6
Animals: wolves

Dina Sanichar, one of the boys who lived at the Sekandra orphanage, is usually assumed to have
been mentally sub-normal. He was removed from a wolves’ cave in 1867 when he was about six
years old. Dina Sanichar was discovered when hunters in the jungles of Bulandshahr were
astonished to see a boy follow a wolf into her den, running on all fours. They smoked out the wolf
and her companion and shot the wolf.
He initially exhibited all the habits of a wild animal, tearing off clothes and eating food from the
ground. He was eventually weaned off raw meat onto cooked, but never did learn to speak. He
apparently became addicted to tobacco. Dina Sanichar died in 1895.

9. Kamala and Amala, the Wolf Girls of

Midnapore

Date found: 1920

Age when found: 8 (Kamala), 1.5 (Amala)
Location: Midnapore, India
Years in the wild: 8, 1
Animals: wolves

Perhaps one of the best-known and controversial stories of feral children is that of Amala and
Kamala. Kamala and Amala are two of the most interesting cases of feral children. The wolf girls
were about 18 months (Amala) and eight years old (Kamala) when they were found together in a
wolves’ den. However, it is believed that they were not sisters, but were abandoned — or taken by
wolves — some years apart.

In that year, Reverend Joseph Singh, a missionary in charge of an orphanage in Northern India,
heard of two ghostly spirit figures seen accompanying a band of wolves near Midnapore in the
Bengal jungle. The local villagers were fearful of these apparitions but local custom forbid them to
do any harm to the wolves. Intrigued, Singh built a hide in a tree top over-looking the lair of the
wolf pack, an old ten-foot high termite mound that had become hollowed out with time. As the
moon rose, Singh saw the wolves come out one by one. Then sticking their heads out briefly to
sniff the night air before bounding forwards into the clearing came two hunched and horrible
figures. As Singh described the “ghosts” in his diary, they were: “Hideous looking…hand, foot and
body like a human being; but the head was a big ball of something covering the shoulders and the
upper portion of the bust…Their eyes were bright and piercing, unlike human eyes…Both of them
ran on all fours.”

The girls seemed to have no trace of humanness in the way they acted and thought. It was as if
they had the minds of wolves. They tore off any clothes put on them and would only eat raw meat.
They slept curled up together in a tight ball and growled and twitched in their sleep. They only
came awake after the moon rose and howled to be let free again. They had spent so long on all
fours that their tendons and joints had shortened to the point where it was impossible for them to
straighten their legs and even attempt to walk upright. They never smiled or showed any interest
in human company. The only emotion that crossed their faces was fear. Even their senses had
become wolf-like. Singh claimed their eyes were supernaturally sharp at night and would glow in
the dark like a cat’s. They could smell a lump of meat right across the orphanage’s three acre yard.
Their hearing was also sharp – except, like Victor, the voice of humans seemed strangely
inaudible to their ears.

A poor but relatively well educated man, Singh did his best to rehabilitate his charges. Influenced
by the horticultural model of child development, he theorised that the wolf habits acquired by
Kamala and Amala had somehow blocked the free expression of their innate human
characteristics. Singh felt it was his job (not least, for religious reasons) to wean the girls from
their lupine ways and so allow their buried humanity to emerge. Unhappily, before his experiment
had progressed far, the younger girl, Amala, sickened and died. This proved a great set-back to
Kamala, who had only just started to lose her fear of other humans and her orphanage
surroundings. Kamala went into a prolonged mourning and for a while, Singh feared for her life
as well. But eventually Kamala recovered and Singh started a patient programme of
rehabilitation.

8. Daniel, The Andes Goat Boy

Date found: 1990
Age when found: 12
Location: Andes, Perú
Years in the wild: 8
Animals: goats

The Andes Goat-Boy was found in the Andes, Peru, in 1990, and was said to have been raised by
goats for eight years. He is supposed to have survived by drinking their milk, and eating roots and
berries. Being in wild, he developed the obvious feral characteristics.

He tended to walk with all his 4 limbs, his hands and feet were hardened due to scar formation
that acted like his hoofs. He could communicate with goats and could not learn human language.

After being found, the Andes Goat-Boy was investigated by a team from Kansas University (The
University of Kansas or Kansas State University) and named Daniel.

7. The Syrian Gazelle Boy

Date found: 1946
Age when found: around 10
Location: Syrian desert
Years in the wild: 9
Animals: gazelles

A boy aged around 10 was found in the midst of a herd of gazelles in the Syrian desert, and was
only caught with the help of an Iraqi army jeep, because he could run at speeds of up to 50 kph.
Although terribly thin, he was said to have been extremely fit and strong, with muscles of steel.
He was captured and bound hand and foot.
Armen says the Syrian Gazelle-Boy was still alive in 1955, when he (the boy) made an attempt to
escape from whichever unpleasant state institution he was incarcerated in. I won’t offend your
sensibilities by telling you what they did to him to stop him escaping again.

The Life Magazine story of 9 September 1946 agrees pretty much with the other reports. It states
that the previous month, a group of hunters found a boy running wild with a herd of gazelles in
the Syrian steppes. About 10 – 14 years old at the time of discovery, he was believed to have been
abandoned as a baby. He was taken to an asylum for the insane. Sunday Express, puts the same
story but says boy’s speed of 50 mph, not 50 kph.

6. Bello, the Nigerian Chimp Boy

Date found: 1996
Age when found: 2
Location: Nigeria
Years in the wild: 1
Animals: chimps

Bello, the Nigerian Chimp Boy was found in 1996, at the age of about two. Both mentally and
physically disabled, he had probably been abandoned by his parents at the age of about six
months, a common practice with disabled children among the Fulani, a nomadic people who
range great distances over the west African Sahel region.

Believed to have been adopted and raised by chimpanzees, Bello was found with a chimpanzee
family in the Falgore forest, 150 km south of Kano in northern Nigeria. When the story reached
the news agencies some six years later in 2002, Bello had been living at the Tudun Maliki Torrey
home in Kano.

When first discovered, Bello walked like a chimpanzee, using his legs but dragging his arms on
the ground. He would leap about at night in the dormitory, disturbing the other children,
smashing and throwing things. Six years later Bello was much calmer, but would still leap around
in a chimpanzee-like fashion, make chimpanzee-like noises, and clap his cupped hands over his
head repeatedly. Bello died in 2005.

5. John Ssebunya, the Ugandan Monkey Boy

Date found: 1991

Age when found: 6
Location: Uganda
Years in the wild: 3
Animals: monkeys

John Ssebunya was born in the mid 1980s, but ran away from home (probably aged around three)
after seeing his mother murdered by his own father. It is generally accepted that John Ssebunya
was cared for at least to some extent by green African (vervet) monkeys while in the jungle. John
was found by a tribeswoman or girl (called Millie) in 1991, hiding in a tree. She returned with
menfolk from the village and, as is so often the case, not only did John resist capture but also his
adoptive family came to his defence, throwing sticks at the villagers.

Initial reports suggest John Ssebunya’s entire body was covered with hair called hypertrichosis.
When he defecated, he excreted worms over half a metre long. Once captured and cleaned up —
he was covered in scars and wounds, with knees scarred from crawling — he was identified as
John Ssebunya. He was given by Millie to the care of Paul and Molly Wasswa, who run a
charitable foundation for orphans. He couldn’t talk or cry initially, but has subsequently learned
to speak. This suggests that he may have learned some speech before his stay in the wild.

John now not only talks but also sings, and tours with the Pearl of Africa children’s choir. John
was the subject of the BBC documentary Living Proof, screened on 13 October 1999.

4. Traian Caldarar, the Romanian Dog Boy

Date found: 2002
Age when found: 7
Location: Brasov, Romănia
Years in the wild: 3
Animals: dogs

Traian Caldarar is a Romanian boy who apparently lived wild, separated from his family, for three
years. He is believed to have left the family home because of domestic violence. His mother, Lina
Caldarar, said that she loved her son but had a violent partner, who was always beating her. When
she lost Traian, she was distraught, and hoped he had perhaps been adopted by another family.
She said: “When I fled, I lost contact with Traian, although I tried to get him back. He [the boy's
father] didn’t allow me to take my child, even though I tried to. He said the child belonged to
him.”

Although aged seven when he was found, Traian Caldarar was only the size of a three-year-old,
could not speak, and was naked and living in a cardboard box covered with a polythene sheet. He
suffered from severe rickets, had infected injuries and his circulation was poor, possibly because
of frostbite. Doctors believe it would have been impossible for Traian to survive on his own and
speculated that he received assistance from the many stray dogs in the Transylvanian countryside.
He was found near the body of a dog that he had apparently been eating.

Traian Caldarar was found after the car of a shepherd, Manolescu Ioan, broke down. Mr Ioan had
to walk from his pastures and came across child who he reported to police, who later captured the
boy. Traian walked with the bandy gait of a chimpanzee and tried to sleep under his bed rather
than on it. Dr Mircea Florea said: “He was found in an animal position and his movements are
animalistic. The facts show that he was not brought up in a social environment. He becomes very
agitated when he does not have food. He is looking for something to eat all the time. He sleeps
after he eats.”

3. Rochom P’ngieng, Cambodian Jungle Girl

Date found: 2007
Age when found: 29
Location: Cambodian Jungle
Years in the wild: 19
Animals: various animals

The so-called Cambodian Jungle girl is a Cambodian woman who emerged from the jungle in
Ratanakiri province, Cambodia on January 13, 2007. A family in a nearby village claimed that the
woman was their daughter Rochom Pn’gieng (born 1979) age 29 or 30 who had disappeared 18 or
19 years previously; the story was covered in most media as one of a feral child who lived in the
jungle for most of her life.

She came to international attention after emerging filthy, naked and scared from the dense jungle
of Ratanakiri province in remote northeastern Cambodia on January 13, 2007. After a villager
noticed food missing from a lunch box, he staked out the area, spotted the woman, gathered some
friends and caught her.

She was recognised by her father, policeman Ksor Lu long, because of a scar on her back. He said
Rochom P’ngieng was lost in the Cambodian jungle at the age of eight when herding buffalo with
her six-year-old sister (who also disappeared). One week after being discovered, she experienced
difficulties adjusting to civilized life. Local police reported that she was only able to say three
words: “father”, “mother” and “stomachache”. A Spanish psychologist who visited the girl
reported that she “made some words and smiled in response to a game involving toy animals and
a mirror” but did not speak any recognizable language. When she was thirsty or hungry, she
pointed at her mouth. She preferred to crawl rather than walk upright. The family watched
Rochom P’ngieng around the clock to make sure she did not run off back to the jungle, as she
tried to do several times. Her mother constantly had to pull back on the clothes when she tried to
take them off. A visiting Guardian reporter described the family as genuinely caring for her and
the woman as listless and sad but restless at night. In May 2010, Rochom P’ngieng has fled back
to the jungle. Despite the searching they have not managed to recover her.

2. The Russian Bird Boy

Date found: 2008

Age when found: 7
Location: Volgograd, Russia
Years in the wild: 7
Animals: birds

In 2008, Russian care workers rescued a seven-year-old “bird-boy” who could communicate only
by “chirping” after his mother raised him in a virtual aviary, it has been reported. Authorities said
the neglected child was found living in a tiny two-room apartment surrounded by cages
containing dozens of birds, bird feed and droppings.

The so-called “bird-boy” did not understand any human language and communicates instead by
chirping and flapping his arms, Russian newspaper Pravda reported. Social worker Galina
Volskaya, who was involved is rescuing the child from his home in Kirovsky, Volgograd, said he
was treated like another pet by his 31-year-old mother who never spoke to him. Miss Volskaya
said: “When you start talking to him, he chirps.”

Russian authorities say the child was not physically harmed but is suffering from “Mowgli
syndrome”, named after the Jungle Book character raised by wild animals, and cannot engage in
any normal human communication.

Pravda reported: “(his mother) had her own domestic birds and fed wild ones. (She) neither beat
him nor left him without food. She just never talked to him. It was all the birds that
communicated with the boy and taught him birds’ language. “He just chirps and when realising
that he is not understood, and starts to wave hands in the way birds winnow wings.” The boy’s
mother signed an abdication form to release the child into care after he was discovered. He was
temporarily transferred to an asylum, but later soon was sent to the centre of psychological care,
according to reports.

1. Oxana Malaya, The Ukrainian Dog Girl

Date found: 1991
Age when found: 8
Location: Blagoveshchenka, Ukraine
Years in the wild: 5
Animals: dogs

Not really either a feral child or a confined child, but rather a neglected one, Oxana Malaya spent
much of her childhood between the ages of 3 and 8 living in a kennel in the back garden of the
family home in Novaya Blagoveschenka, Ukraine, although she did spend some time in the house
with her alcholic and neglectful parents.

Oxana’s alcoholic parents were unable to care for her, and at three years of age she was exiled
from her home. They lived in an impoverished area where there were wild dogs roaming the
streets. She took refuge in a shed inhabited by these dogs behind her house. She was cared for by
them and learned their behaviors and mannerisms. The bonding with the pack of dogs was so
strong that the authorities who came to rescue her were driven away in the first attempt by the
dogs. Her actions and sounds mimicked those of her carers. She growled, barked, walked on all
fours and crouched like a wild dog, sniffed at her food before she ate it, and was found to have
acquired extremely acute senses of hearing, smell and sight. She only knew how to say “yes” and
“no” when she was rescued.

When she was discovered, Oxana found it difficult to acquire normal human social and emotional
skills. She had been deprived of intellectual and social stimulation, and her only emotional
support had come from the dogs she lived with. Oxana’s lack of exposure to language in a social
context made it very difficult for her to improve her language skills. When first found in 1991 she
could hardly speak.

As of 2010 at the age of 26, Oxana resides at a home for the mentally handicapped, where she
helps look after the cows in the clinic’s farm. She has expressed that she is happiest when among
dogs.