Children Raised By Animals
- FATE Magazine
- Apr 21
- 3 min read
It took quite a bit of digging to find this list of strange cases of "Children Raised By Animals".
Researchers have often studied the effects of nature versus nurture on human development. But nothing puts those theories to the test like these documented cases of children being raised by animals. Like Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" in real life, many kids who have grown up without the influence of other humans develop animal-like behavior and learn to communicate outside their own species.
1. Oxana Malaya
Oxana Malaya was just three years old when her parents locked her outside in the cold. Her life took a wild turn when the "toddler made a home for herself inside of pup Naida's kennel," said The New York Post. "Within the confines of the cage, she dwelled alongside the critter for the next five years of her life." As a result, Oxana developed behaviors that mirrored the dogs she was surrounded by. When she was discovered by the authorities, "she was more like a little dog than a human child," said the director of the children's home Oxana was taken to, in an interview with "60 Minutes." "She used to show her tongue when she saw water and she used to eat with her tongue and not her hands."
2. Marina Chapman
In 1954, Chapman, who was just four years old, was abducted and abandoned in the Colombian jungle. While this would have been a death sentence for most people, Marina was able to survive with the help of a pack of capuchin monkeys. "I didn't know what to eat except the water. And I noticed the monkeys used to eat things," she said to Unilad. "They kept eating something and I keep watching where they getting this food and it took me days to find out where they getting the food." Chapman managed to recognize the monkeys' sounds and their meanings. In 2013, Chapman released a book, "The Girl With No Name: The Incredible True Story of the Girl Raised by Monkeys." However, experts "believe Chapman took several creative licenses with her story," said All That's Interesting.
3. Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja
Pantoja was abandoned at seven years old and survived through the protection of wolves. "With no one to talk to, he lost the use of language, and began to bark, chirp, screech and howl," said The Guardian. He was looked after by wolves but also interacted with other animals, including foxes and snakes. "His enemy was the wild boar. He says he spoke to them all in a mix of grunts, howls and half-remembered words." He was found 12 years later "wrapped in a deerskin and with long, matted hair," and struggled to adapt to life with humans.
4. Andrei Tolstyk
In 2004, a seven-year-old boy was discovered in a remote part of Siberia. Andrei Tolstyk had been living in the wilderness since he was three months old after being abandoned by his parents, instead being raised by wild dogs. He was born with speech and hearing problems, making communication difficult. "Tolstyk had strong teeth, sniffed the food before eating it, was afraid of people and generally behaved very erratically," said ZME Science. "It took him two weeks before he began to walk on two legs."
5. Saturday Mthiyane
Mthiyane was estimated to be about five years old when she was found in 1987 in the wilderness outside a small South African village. He was named Saturday after the day he was found. Saturday had been "living with monkeys in KwaZulu-Natal and had no other human contact readily available to him," said Listverse. Even after spending time with humans, he still could not talk, walked like a monkey, was wary of cooked food and refused to play with other children. It is unknown how he ended up in the wild.
The original article with photos can be found here:https://theweek.com/articles/471164/6-cases-children-being-raised-by-animals
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