The idea of kids being raised by animals sounds like something that might just happen in fictional stories like The Jungle Book or Tarzan, but did you know that Feral children or kids actually raised by animals do exist in real life. Here are some astonishing stories of the children who were left or lost in the wild and taken in by their Animal family.
10- Oxana Malaya
In 1991, a girl named Oxana Malaya was found living in a dog kennel. She was eight years old when found by the rescuers and just three when her alcoholic parents had forgotten her outside the house. She curled inside the family kennel with the Mongrels in order to keep warm and there she stayed for the next five years. After years of not being near a human, she adapted all the dog traits; She walked on all fours, ate raw meat, growled, whiffed, barked and even bore her teeth when approached. It was clear that the Mongrels also considered her one of their own as they resisted and attacked when the rescuers tried to take her away.
Due to her extremely delayed linguistic, social and humanly skills, it took a lot of effort and time to make her a human again. She had to re-learn how to speak and walk upright on her legs. Up till the recent reports, she lives in an institution for the mentally handicapped and spends most of the time taking care of the animals at the clinic’s farm.
9- Marina Chapman
While living in Columbia, Marina Chapman was five when she was kidnapped and left for dead in a jungle. Now an afraid loner, she came across a tribe of Capuchin monkeys who happen to be highly intelligent black and white animals. For five years she followed their trail imitating their behaviour in eating, drinking, socializing and communicating. The Capuchins finally accepted her as their own and taught her how to forage through the forest and avoid predators for survival. Eventually, she was found by some hunters but they left her in a brothel from where she luckily escaped. She now lives as a British housewife with two daughter of her own, what a happy ending! She has written a book based on her five year journey entitled as The Girl With No Name; The Incredible Story Of A Girl Raised By Monkeys.
8- A Boy Raised by Goats
In 1990, a young boy was found in the mountain range of Andes in Peru. No one knew how he ended up there. But he had been living with a herd of wild Peruvian goats since eight years. Surviving on their milk and eating wild fruits or roots. He possessed no linguistic skills but could communicate with his goat family by bleating. He kind of had replaced hooves with hands which were too calloused to hold anything. The skin on his hands and feet had scarred and hardened. Many of his bones had grown abnormally due to walking on all fours for nearly a decade. He was sent out to Kansas for a study and later named as Daniel.
7- Rochom P’ngieng
Rochom was found in the dense jungle of remote Northeastern area of Cambodia when a villager noticed his food supply missing. She was brought to a nearby village where her father recognized her by a childhood scar stating that she disappeared twenty years ago when she was eight. It was said that she survived the wilderness by befriending various animals especially monkeys because her gait and stature seemed to be monkey like. She could barely speak or communicate and tore off any clothes placed on her. Her new family struggled to control her over the years as she tried to escape into the jungle various times. In May 2010, she made a successful escape into the jungle and has not been seen since.
6- Vanya Yudin
At the age of eight, young Vanya Yudin was found in a tiny apartment of Russia with plenty of birds in cages. Treated by his own mother as one of her pets, he turned to his fellow pet birds and learned to mimic the chirps and squawks. Being deprived of human interaction, he was unable to speak a single word when the authorities found him. Though he was never abused or starved by his mother, still the social services removed him from his mother’s custody. And he was sent for rehabilitation. His mother blew off his custody in 2008 and he was placed in a psychological care unit for recovery.
5- Lyokha, raised by Russian Wolves
In 2007, when the villagers reported that they found a boy in Kaluga region of Central Russia outside a den made of leaves and twigs in the freezing temperature. The police rescued him. He could not speak, instead he snarled and tried to bite the policeman who held him. They left him at a hospital near Moscow. The boy seemed to be ten years old but could have been older as he appeared quite under developed. He had claw like finger and toe nails and resembled wolf like traits. The hospital staff bathed him, cut his nails and took blood samples, they named him Lyokha. The wolf boy clearly seemed discomforted by the attention and fled the hospital within 24 hours.
4- Hadara, raised by Ostriches
In the early 20th Century, two year old Hadara was separated from his parents in the Sahara desert. A two year old boy stranded in the middle of the desert seemed to stand no chance but incredibly he was adopted by Ostriches! Ostriches are not known to be attending to humans in any case except this rare one. Where little Hadara lived with his long legged bird family for Ten years. He was rescued at an age of twelve. And is now he is married. Living with children who live to tell their father’s incredible story of survival.
3- John Sembuya
When just two years old John saw his father killing his mother, he fled into the jungle of Uganda. Where he was taken in as one of their own by a group of Green Vervet monkeys. He lived with his new family for three years. Until he was found and readjusted into human life. Initially preferring raw food and unable to stand erect.
2- Ivan Mishukov
Ivan was a four year old runaway from Moscow who stood no chance in the bleak situation until a pack of wild dogs adopted him. He eventually became the leader of the pack as he was the one who could successfully manipulate and beg people for food! The dogs reciprocated by protecting him day and keeping him warm during the freezing night. As a typical feral story ends, the police picked him up two years later and he had to learn to be a human again.
1- The Cat Boy
It is hard to believe that a group of eight stray cats would take in a human baby as their own. A group of Argentinians once stumble upon a one year old boy in the streets. Who put him there and for how long, no one knew. But he likely managed to hold on to life, thanks to those eight cats. The felines brought him scraps of food. They kept him warm during the nights by making a cushion of fur around him. They even cleaned him by licking! A sparse information was given out regarding the details of the boy, but those stray cats actually won the hearts!
