This Boy Raised by Gazelles Could Run as Fast as Cars

There’s something about feral children that captivates us. For centuries, stories of children left to the care of animals have appeared and captured the public imagination. Even before reliable historical records, folklore and mythological tales of wild children served as important narratives. The origin of the Roman Empire is said to have been twin boys Romulus and Remus, two feral children raised by wolves into mighty warriors, capable of starting a great civilization. While the line between human and animal seems wide, each successive story of feral children thins that line and provides fascinating insights into the nature of humanity.

No matter how you slice it, however, cases of feral children are usually the result of unconscionable neglect, trauma, and often horror. While some of the children on this list managed to survive vicious circumstances like civil wars or family murders, others were forced into a feral life through extreme neglect. It’s a hard life. Plus, only a few feral children can reenter the human world. Nevertheless, such stories illustrate the determination of the human spirit, one capable of enduring unimaginable hardship. Let’s explore some of the most fascinating feral children’s stories in history.

To compile an article about feral children from around the world, Moms Who Think consulted a range of news, entertainment, and historical publications including The Guardian , History.com, and Britannica.com. Next, we selected clear cases of feral children with sources confirming their veracity. After that, we authenticated the stories using sites like NPR and The Guardian.

Marina Chapman

Marina Chapman was born in Colombia during a time of great social upheaval and unrest called La Violencia. At an early age, guerillas kidnapped Chapman from her village before dumping her deep in the jungle. According to her, she spent several years following a group of Capuchin monkeys, learning their habits, and eventually assimilating with the group. When hunters rescued her from the jungle, she lacked any human language. After that, she was sold to a brothel in Cúcuta but was quickly freed since she was so feral.

From there, she roamed the streets, before becoming enslaved again by a mafia family. Not long after, a neighbor rescued her from slavery, adopted her at age 14, and sent her to live with family in Bradford, United Kingdom. She lives a normal life there, married to a scientist with two daughters. Her claims of being raised by monkeys divided researchers. Some performed tests that suggested she told the truth. Others, however, believe false memories influenced Chapman. Whatever the case, her store reached wider attention through a National Geographic documentary called “Woman Raised By Monkeys.”

John Ssebunya

After his father killed his mother in a brutal double murder, 3-year-old John Ssebunya fled into the Ugandan jungle fearing he would be next. As Ssebunya recalls, a few monkeys approached him a few days later. At first wary of the small human, the monkeys began bringing him food like nuts and sweet potatoes. After about two weeks, they assimilated him into the group, teaching him to travel with the pack, climb trees, and forage for food. Since Uganda was in the midst of a civil war, humans seldom entered that patch of jungle. For about a year, Ssebunya lived with the monkeys, though he remembers never being able to sleep well.

Eventually, a woman named Millie traveled farther into the bush than normal and came across a pack of monkeys with a small human. At first frightened, she grabbed Ssebunya and brought him back to her village. By all accounts, Ssebunya was wild. He refused eye contact and could only speak monosyballically. Despite his setbacks, Ssebunya made a notable recovery. After being adopted by an orphanage, he joined the Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir and even competed twice in the Special Olympics for Uganda.

Dina Sanichar

One of the most remarkable accounts of feral children is that of Dina Sanichar. In February 1867, a group of hunters discovered him living among wolves in a cave near  Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India. Believed to be around six years old, the hunters sent Sanichar to an orphanage in Agra where he lived for the next two decades. Since he arrived on a Saturday, the caretakers named him Sanichar (which means Saturday).

Sanichar must have spent most of his life in the wolf den as he walked on all fours and would only eat raw meat. Though he lacked human language, he could howl and bark in ways eerily similar to a wolf. He lived with humans for the rest of his life but never learned to speak. Surprisingly, he took up human habits and became a heavy smoker. He died at age 34 from tuberculosis. Some believe Sanichar served as the inspiration for the character of Mowgli in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.”

Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja

When Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja was 3 years old, his mother died in childbirth. His father married another woman with a previous child. Unfortunately, she abused Pantoja severely. He spent years under her cruel authority until she sold (or delivered) him to a landowner who gave him to a goatherder. When the goatherder died, Pantoja was left to nature. Eleven years later, The Spanish Civil Guard found him in the company of wolves. Feral, he howled like a wolf at the guards and bit them.

The Civil Guard brought him to a nearby hospital. Thanks to the teaching of nurses and priests, Pantoja learned human habits like walking upright, speaking, and using cutlery while eating. When he aged out of the orphanage-like environment, Pantoja entered military service before working in the hospitality industry. While competent, his years in isolation and lack of cultural sense led to him being scammed out of money on several occasions. This caused him, at one point, to move back into a cave. Eventually, he made his way to a village in Ourense, Spain. There, a retired police officer befriended him and incorporated him into his family. Pantoja is still alive and under the care of a Dutch family. Thanks to their sponsorship, he takes part in speaking engagements and meetings depicting his unbelievable story.

An anthropologist named Gabriel Janer Manila studied his case back in the 70s. After a series of interviews, Malina concluded that Pantoja survived thanks to his wits, but the chaos of city life instilled an adult preference for wild places like fields and forests.

Oxana Malaya

It’s hard to argue that feral children suffer extreme trauma early in childhood. Take Oxana Malaya, for example. Born healthy in 1983 near the Hornostaivka Raion in Southern Ukraine, Malaya was neglected severely by her alcoholic father. Gradually, she began living with dogs and eventually assimilated into the pack. Authorities found her in this state at 7 years old and removed her from her parent’s custody. She barked, walked on all fours, and groomed herself like a dog.

The state then put her in the care of a foster home for mentally-impaired children. After years of specialized therapy, Malaya quelled her canine behaviors and even learned to speak fluently. Upon reaching adulthood, she got a job milking cows and even a boyfriend.

Despite her progress, Malaya remains intellectually impaired from her early childhood experience. Since then, numerous television programs have documented Malaya’s unique case. During a 2013 interview on Ukrainian TV, she said she wants to be treated like a normal human being and takes offense when called “dog girl.”

Up Next:

• Boy Names That Mean Fast
• Children's Books That Teach Important Life Lessons
• The Ultimate Summer Bucket List: Your Family’s Guide to the Best Summer Ever

The post This Boy Raised by Gazelles Could Run as Fast as Cars appeared first on Moms Who Think .