Mowgli is Rudyard Kipling's hero who was raised by wolves. There are real cases in the history of mankind when children were raised by animals, and their lives, unlike the books, do not end with a happy ending. After all, for such children, socialization is practically impossible, and they live forever with the fears and habits that their “adoptive parents” passed on to them. Children who spend their first 3-6 years of life with animals are unlikely to ever learn human language, even though they will be cared for and loved later in life.

The very first known case of a child being raised by wolves was recorded in the 14th century. Not far from Hesse (Germany), an 8-year-old boy was found living with a pack of wolves. He jumped far, bit, growled and moved on all fours. He ate only raw food and could not speak. After the boy was returned to the people, he died very quickly.

Averones savage

Savage from Aveyron in life and in the film “Wild Child” (1970)

In 1797, hunters in the south of France found a wild boy who was believed to be 12 years old. He behaved like an animal: he could not speak, instead of words he only growled. For several years they tried to return him to society, but everything was unsuccessful. He constantly ran away from people into the mountains, but never learned to talk, although he lived surrounded by people for thirty years. The boy was named Victor, and his behavior was actively studied by scientists. They found out that the savage from Aveyron had a special sense of hearing and smell, his body was insensitive to low temperatures, and he refused to wear clothes. His habits were studied by Dr. Jean-Marc Itard, thanks to Victor he reached a new level in research in the field of education of children who are developmentally delayed.

Peter from Hannover


In 1725, another feral boy was found in the forests of northern Germany. He looked to be about ten years old, and he led a completely wild lifestyle: he ate forest plants, walked on all fours. Almost immediately the boy was transported to the UK. King George I took pity on the boy and placed him under observation. For a long time, Peter lived on a farm under the supervision of one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, and then her relatives. The savage died at the age of seventy, and during these years he was able to learn only a few words. True, modern researchers believe that Peter had a rare genetic disease and was not completely feral.

Dean Sanichar

The largest number of Mowgli children were found in India: between 1843 and 1933 alone, 15 feral children were discovered here. And one of the cases was recorded quite recently: last year, an eight-year-old girl was found in the forests of the Katarniaghat Nature Reserve, who had been raised by monkeys since birth.

Another feral child, Dean Sanichar, was raised by a pack of wolves. Hunters saw him several times, but could not catch him, and finally, in 1867, they managed to lure him out of his lair. The boy was believed to be six years old. He was taken into care, but he learned very few human skills: he learned to walk on two legs, use utensils, and even wear clothes. But he never learned to speak. He lived with people for more than twenty years. It is Dean Sanichar who is considered the prototype of the hero of The Jungle Book.

Amala and Kamala


In 1920, the residents of an Indian village began to be plagued by ghosts from the jungle. They turned to missionaries for help to get rid of evil spirits. But the ghosts turned out to be two girls, one was about two years old, the other about eight. They were named Amala and Kamala. The girls saw perfectly in the dark, walked on all fours, howled and ate raw meat. Amala died a year later, and Kamala lived with people for 9 years, and at 17 years old her development was comparable to a four-year-old child.

A photo project dedicated to modern Mowglis - children who grew up among animals - has become one of the most high-profile and stunning projects created by London-based photographer of German origin Julia Fullerton-Batten. These staged photographs reveal the terrible problems of modern society, in which, unfortunately, there is still a place for such anti-social phenomena as child homelessness.

The photo project is based on real stories of children who were once lost, stolen or simply abandoned by their parents to their fate.

1. Lobo, wolf girl, Mexico, 1845-1852

In 1845, this girl was seen running on all fours with a pack of wolves attacking a herd of goats. A year later, she was seen eating a goat with wolves. They managed to catch the girl, but she escaped. In 1852, she was seen again, this time suckling a she-wolf, but she again managed to escape into the forest from people trying to catch her. She was never seen again.

2. Oksana Malaya, Ukraine, 1991

Oksana was found living with dogs. She was 8 years old and had lived with animals since she was 6 years old. The girl's parents were alcoholics and one day they simply forgot her on the street. A three-year-old girl, in search of warmth, snuck into a pen with animals, where she fell asleep among the mongrel dogs, which then saved her life. When the girl was found, she acted more like a dog than a human child. She ran on all fours, sticking out her tongue, baring and barking. Of all human words, she understood only “yes” and “no.” Intensive therapy helped Oksana regain social and verbal skills, but only at the level of a five-year-old child. Now she lives in a clinic in Odessa and takes care of animals on the farm at the institution.

3. Shamdeo, India, 1972

This four-year-old boy was found playing with wolf cubs in the forests of India. He had dark skin, pointed teeth, long hooked nails, matted hair, and calluses on his hands, elbows, and knees. He liked to hunt chickens, could eat dirt, had a thirst for blood, and roamed with stray dogs. They managed to wean him off eating raw meat, but he never spoke, he simply learned to understand a little sign language. In 1978, he was sent to the Mother Teresa Hospice for the Poor and Dying in Lucknow, where he received a new name - Pascal. He died in February 1985.

4. Rights (bird boy), Russia, 2008

Rights, a 7-year-old boy found in the two-room apartment of his 31-year-old mother. The baby was locked in a room completely lined with bird houses with dozens of decorative birds, among food and droppings. The mother treated her son like one of her pets. She never caused him physical suffering, did not beat him, did not leave him hungry, but she never spoke to him as a person. The boy communicated only with birds. He couldn't speak, but he could chirp. When they didn’t understand him, he began to flap his arms like a bird’s wings.

Rights was transferred to a psychological assistance center, where he is undergoing rehabilitation.

5. Marina Chapman, Columbia, 1959

Marina was kidnapped in 1954 from a remote village in South America at the age of 5 and abandoned in the jungle by her captors. She lived with a family of baby capuchin monkeys for five years before she was accidentally discovered by hunters. The girl ate berries, roots and bananas that the monkeys dropped; she slept in the hollows of trees and moved on all fours. One day a girl got food poisoning. The old monkey led her to a puddle of water and made her drink until she vomited, after which the girl felt better. Marina made friends with little monkeys, thanks to whom she learned to climb trees and recognize what is safe to eat.

The girl had completely lost the ability to speak by the time she was found by hunters. Unfortunately, even after that she had a hard time, since the hunters sold her to a brothel, from where she escaped, after which she wandered the streets for a long time. Then she fell into slavery to a family involved in dark deeds, and stayed there until she was rescued by a neighbor, who sent her to live with his daughter and son-in-law in Bogota. The new family adopted the girl, and she began to live with their five children. When Marina reached adulthood, she was offered the role of housekeeper and nanny for a family of relatives. In 1977, Marina and her new family moved to Bradford (UK), where she still lives today. She got married and had children.

Together with her youngest daughter, Marina wrote a book about her difficult childhood spent in the wild forest, and about everything she had to endure subsequently. The book is called "The Girl with No Name".

6. Madina, Russia, 2013

Madina lived with dogs from birth until she was 3 years old. She ate with the dogs, played with them and slept with them during the cold season. When social workers found her in 2013, the girl was walking on all fours, completely naked and growling like a dog. Madina's father abandoned the family shortly after her birth. Her 23-year-old mother began to abuse alcohol. She was always too drunk to care for the child and often disappeared from home. Also often, the mother drank and feasted with her drinking companions while her young daughter gnawed bones on the floor, along with the dogs.

When her mother was angry with her, the girl ran outside into the neighboring yards, but none of the children played with her, because she did not know how to talk and only growled and fought with everyone. Over time, the dogs became the girl's best and only friends.

According to doctors, despite all this, the girls are physically and mentally healthy. There are fairly high chances that she will be able to lead a normal life after she learns to speak and acquires the human skills necessary for her age.

7. Jenny, USA, 1970

When Jenny was a child, her father decided that she was mentally retarded, so he constantly kept her on a high chair in one of the small rooms of the house. The girl spent more than 10 years in this “solitary confinement.” She even had to sleep on this chair. Jenny was 13 years old when her mother came with her to social services and social workers noticed strange behavior in the girl. She was still not accustomed to a regular toilet and had a rather strange gait. She also could not speak or make any articulate sounds. The girl kept spitting and scratching herself.

Jenny has been the subject of research for quite some time. Experts taught her, and she even learned a few words, but was not able to assemble them into a single grammatical structure. Over time, the girl learned to read short texts and acquired minimal social behavior skills. She had the chance to live a little more with her mother, and then she lived in different foster families, where, unfortunately, she went through humiliation, harassment and violence.

After everything she had suffered, the girl was able to be returned to the children's hospital, where doctors noted a clear regression in her development - she again returned to her previous silent state. In 1974, funding for Jenny's treatment and research ceased, and for quite a long time nothing was known about her or her whereabouts. Much time later, a private detective managed to find her in one of the medical institutions for mentally retarded adults.

8. Leopard Boy, India, 1912

This two-year-old boy was dragged into the jungle by a female leopard. Three years later, a hunter killed her and found three cubs in the den, one of which was a five-year-old boy. The child was returned to the Indian family in the remote abandoned village from which he was kidnapped. When the boy was first caught, he could run on all fours as quickly and adroitly as an ordinary adult could run on his own two feet. The boy's knees were covered with rough calluses, his fingers were bent almost at right angles (for more convenient climbing of trees). He bit, growled and fought with everyone who tried to approach him.

Subsequently, the boy was able to be accustomed to human behavior, and he even began to walk upright. Unfortunately, a short time later he became almost completely blind due to cataracts. The disease was hereditary in his family and had nothing to do with his “adventures” in the jungle.

9. Sujit Kumar (chicken boy), Fiji, 1978

The boy's parents locked him in a chicken coop for the dysfunctional behavior he exhibited as a child. Kumar's mother committed suicide and his father was killed. His grandfather took responsibility for the child, but he, too, continued to keep the boy locked in the chicken coop. He was 8 years old when neighbors saw him on the road, pecking something in the dust and cackling. His fingers were curled like chicken feet.

Social workers took the boy to a local nursing home, but there, due to aggressive behavior, he was tied to a bed and spent more than 20 years in this position. Now he is over 30, and he is being cared for by Elizabeth Clayton, who once saved him from home.

10. Kamala and Amala, India, 1920

Kamala, 8, and Amala, 12, were found in 1920 in a wolf den. This is one of the most famous cases involving wild children. They were allegedly found by Reverend Joseph Singh, who was hiding in a tree above the cave where the girls were seen. When the wolves left the den, the priest saw two figures emerging from the cave. The girls looked terrifying, moved on all fours and did not look like people at all.

The man managed to grab the girls as they slept, curled up together. The girls tore off the clothes that were put on them, they scratched, fought, howled and ate nothing but raw meat. During their stay with the wolves, all their joints became deformed and their limbs looked more like paws. The girls showed no interest in communicating with people. But their vision, hearing and olfactory abilities were simply amazing!

Amala died a year after the girls began living among people. Kamala learned to speak a few phrases and walk on two legs, but at the age of 17 she also died of kidney failure.

11. Ivan Mishukov, Russia, 1998

The boy was abused by his parents and ran away from home when he was only 4 years old. He was forced to wander the streets and beg. He became friends with a pack of stray dogs and wandered the streets with them and shared his food with them. The dogs accepted the boy, began to treat him with respect, and, ultimately, he even became something of their leader. Ivan lived with the dogs for two years until he was discovered and sent to a shelter for street children.

The fact that the boy was among animals for a relatively short period of time had a positive effect on his ability to recover and socialize. Today Ivan lives an ordinary life.

12. Marie Angelique Memmi Le Blanc (wild girl from Champagne), France, 1731

Apart from her childhood, the story of this 18th century girl is surprisingly well documented. During 10 years of wandering, she walked alone thousands of kilometers through the forests of France, eating roots, plants, frogs and fish. Armed only with a club, she fought off wild animals, mainly wolves. When people caught her (at the age of 19), the girl was completely dark-skinned, with matted hair and hard, curled claws. When the girl got down on all fours to drink water from the river, she was constantly on alert and looked around, as if expecting a sudden attack. Marie did not know human speech and could only communicate by growling or howling.

For many years she never touched cooked food, preferring to eat raw chicken and rabbits. Her fingers remained curled and she used them to dig up roots or climb trees. In 1737, the Queen of Poland, mother of the French Queen, on her way to France, took Memmi with her on a hunting trip, where the girl showed herself still capable of running like an animal - fast enough to catch and kill wild rabbits.

However, the girl’s recovery from the consequences of her ten-year stay in the wild was remarkable. She acquired several wealthy patrons and learned to read, write, and speak French fluently. She died in Paris in 1775, at the age of 63.

13. John Ssebunya (monkey boy), Uganda, 1991

At the age of 3, the boy ran away from home after seeing his father kill his mother. The baby hid in the jungle and took root in a family of wild monkeys. In 1991, when he was 6 years old, the boy was accidentally discovered by hunters and sent to an orphanage. When they cleaned him there and washed him of dirt, it turned out that the child’s body was completely covered with coarse hair.

The boy's diet in the jungle consisted mainly of roots, leaves, sweet potatoes, nuts and bananas. He was also infected with dangerous intestinal worms, which could reach half a meter in length.

John was relatively easy to train and educate, learned to talk and even showed a talent for singing! Thanks to this, he subsequently even toured the UK with a male choir.

14. Victor (wild boy from Aveyron), France, 1797

Victor was first discovered at the end of the 18th century in the forests of St. Sernin-sur-Rance, in the south of France. He was caught by the people, but somehow managed to escape again. In January 1800, the boy was recaptured. He was about 12 years old, his body was completely covered with scars, and the child was unable to utter a word. It is believed that he spent about 7 years in the wild.

Testing the boy's ability to withstand low temperatures, the French biology professor sent Victor to walk naked through the streets in the snow. Oddly enough, the boy was not at all depressed by this, and he felt surprisingly calm even in such conditions.

However, when trying to teach the guy to talk and behave as expected in society, all the teachers failed. The boy may have been able to hear and speak before he found himself in the wild, but after returning to civilization he was never able to do so again. He died in a Parisian research institute at the age of 40.

Over 150 years ago, Sir Francis Galton coined the phrase “nature versus nurture.” At that time, the scientist researched what influences a person’s psychological development more - his heredity or the environment in which he is located. It was about behavior, habits, intelligence, personality, sexuality, aggression and so on.

Those who believe in education believe that people become such precisely because of everything that happens directly around them, the way they are taught. Opponents argue that we are all children of nature and act according to our inherent genetic predisposition and animal instinct (according to Freud).

What do you think about this? Are we a product of our environment, our genes, or both? In this complex debate, feral children are an important aspect. The term "feral children" refers to a young person who has been abandoned or found himself in a situation where he finds himself deprived of any kind of interaction with civilization.

As a result, such children usually end up among animals. They often lack social skills; they do not always acquire even such a simple skill as talking. Wild children learn based on what they see around them, but the conditions, as well as the ways of learning, differ markedly from normal conditions.

History knows several rather revealing stories of “wild children”. And these cases are much more complex and interesting than the classic story of Mowgli. These are very real people who can already be called by their names, and not by nicknames given by the sensation-hungry media.

Bello from Nigeria. This boy was nicknamed the Nigerian chimpanzee boy in the press. He was found in 1996 in the jungle of this country. No one can say with certainty exactly Bello's age; it is assumed that he was about 2 years old at the time of the discovery. The boy found in the forest turned out to be physically and mentally disabled. This is explained by his parents abandoning him at the age of six months. This practice is very common among the Fulani tribe. At such a young age, the boy, of course, could not stand up for himself. But some chimpanzees living in the forest accepted him into their tribe. As a result, the boy adopted many of the behavior traits of monkeys, in particular their walking. When Bello was found in the Falgore Forest, the discovery was not widely reported. But in 2002, a popular newspaper discovered a boy in a boarding school for abandoned children in Kano, South Africa. The news about Bello quickly became sensational. He himself often fought with other children, threw objects, and at night he jumped and ran. Six years later, the boy had already become much calmer, although he still retained many of the chimpanzee’s behavior patterns. As a result, Bello was never able to learn to speak, despite constant interaction with other children and people in his home. In 2005, the boy died for unknown reasons.

Vanya Yudin. One of the recent cases of a wild child was Vanya Yudin. News agencies nicknamed him "Russian Bird Boy." When Volgograd social workers found him in 2008, he was 6 years old and unable to speak. The child's mother abandoned him. The boy could practically do nothing, he just chirped and folded his arms like wings. He learned this from his parrot friends. Although Vanya was not physically harmed in any way, he was incapable of human contact. His behavior became similar to that of a bird, and he expressed emotions by waving his arms. Vanya spent a long time in a two-room apartment in which dozens of his mother’s birds were kept in cages. One of the social workers who discovered Vanya, Galina Volskaya, said that the boy lived with his mother, but she never spoke to him, treating him like just another feathered pet. When people tried to talk to Vanya, he only chirped in response. Now the boy has been transferred to a psychological assistance center, where, with the help of specialists, they are trying to return him to normal life. The lack of human relationships led the child to another world.

Dean Sanichar. One of the most famous oldest cases of a wild child is Dinah, nicknamed "Indian Wolf Boy". When hunters found him in 1867, the boy was supposedly 6 years old. People noticed a pack of wolves entering the cave, and with it a man running on four legs. The men smoked the wolves out of the shelter, entering there they found Dean. The boy was found in the jungles of Bulandshahr, and an attempt was made to treat him. True, at that time there were simply no effective means and techniques. However, people tried to communicate with him in order to rid Dean of his animalistic behavior. After all, he ate raw meat, tore off his clothes and ate from the ground. And not from dishes. After some time, Dean was taught to eat cooked meat, but he never learned to speak.

Rochom Piengeng. When this girl was 8 years old, she and her sister were herding buffalo in the Cambodian jungle and got lost. The parents had completely given up hope of seeing their daughters. 18 years have passed, on January 23, 2007, a naked girl emerged from the jungle in the province of Ratanakiri. She secretly stole food from one of the peasants. Having discovered the loss, he went hunting for the thief and found a wild man in the forest. The police were immediately called. One of the families in the village recognized the girl as their missing daughter Rochom Pyengeng. After all, there was a distinctive scar on her back. But the girl’s sister was never found. She herself miraculously managed to survive in the dense jungle. After reaching people, Roch and he worked hard to try to return him to normal living conditions. Soon she was able to pronounce some words: “mother”, “father”, “stomach pain”. The psychologist said that the girl tried to speak other words, however, it was impossible to understand them. When Rochom wanted to eat, she simply pointed to her mouth. The girl often crawled on the ground, refusing to wear clothes. As a result, she was never able to adapt to human culture, running away back into the forest in May 2010. Since then, nothing has been known about the whereabouts of the wild girl. Sometimes conflicting rumors appear. They say, for example, that she was seen in the cesspool of one of the village toilets.

Trajan Kaldarar. This famous wild child case also happened recently. Trajan, found in 2002, is more often called the Romanian dog boy or “Mowgli” after the literary character. He lived separately from his family for 3 years, starting at the age of 4. When Trajan was found at age 7, he looked 3 years old. The reason for this is extremely poor nutrition. Trajan's mother was the victim of a series of violence at the hands of her husband. It is believed that the child could not stand such an atmosphere and ran away from home. Trajan lived in the wild until he was found near Brasov, Romania. The boy found his shelter in a large cardboard box covered with leaves on top. When doctors examined Trajan, he was diagnosed with a severe case of rickets, infected wounds and poor circulation. Those who found the boy believe that stray dogs helped him survive. We found it by accident. Shepherd Ioan Manolescu's car broke down and he was forced to walk through the pastures. It was there that the man found the boy. The remains of a dog were found nearby. It is assumed that Trajan ate it in order to stay alive. When the wild boy was taken into custody, he refused to sleep on the bed, climbing under it. Trajan was also constantly hungry. When he was hungry, he became extremely irritable. After eating, the boy almost immediately went to bed. In 2007, it was reported that Troyan adapted well under the supervision of his grandfather and even studied in the 3rd grade of school. When the boy was asked about his educational institution, he said: “I like it here - there are coloring books, games, you can learn to read and write. The school has toys, cars, teddy bears and the food is very good.”

John Ssebunya. This man was nicknamed "Uganda Monkey Boy". He ran away from home at the age of three after witnessing the murder of his mother by his own father. Impressed by what he saw, John fled to the Ugandan jungle, where he is believed to have come under the care of green African monkeys. At that time the boy was only 3 years old. In 1991, John was seen hiding in a tree by a woman named Millie, his fellow tribesman. After that, she called other villagers for help. As in other similar cases, John resisted his capture in every possible way. The monkeys also helped him in this, they began to throw sticks at people, protecting their “compatriot.” However, John was caught and taken to the village. They washed him there, but his whole body was covered with hair. This disease is called hypertrichosis. It manifests itself in the presence of excessive hair in those parts of the body where there is no such usual cover. Living in the wild, John also became infected with intestinal worms. It is stated that some of them were almost half a meter in length when they were removed from his body. The foundling was full of injuries, mainly from trying to walk like a monkey. John was given to Molly and Paul Waswa in their children's home. The couple even taught the boy to speak, although many argue that he already knew how to do this before he ran away from home. John was also taught to sing. Today he tours with the children's choir "Pearls of Africa" ​​and has practically gotten rid of his animal behavior.

Kamala and Amala. The story of these two Indian young girls is one of the most famous cases of feral children. When they were found in a wolf den in Midnapore, India, in 1920, Kamala was 8 years old and Amala was 1.5 years old. The girls spent most of their lives away from people. Even though they were found together, researchers have questioned whether they were sisters. After all, they had quite a big age difference. They were just left in approximately the same place at different times. The girls were discovered after mystical stories spread throughout the village about the figures of two ghostly spirits who were taken along with wolves from the jungles of Bengal. Local residents were so afraid of the spirits that they called a priest to find out the whole truth. Reverend Joseph hid in a tree above the cave and began to wait for the wolves. When they left, he looked into their lair and saw two hunched over people. He wrote down everything he saw. The priest described the children as “disgusting creatures from head to toe.” The girls ran on all fours and had no signs of human existence. As a result, Joseph took the wild children with him, although he had no experience in adapting them. The girls slept together, curled up, tore off their clothes, ate nothing but raw meat, and howled. Their habits were reminiscent of animals. They opened their mouths, sticking out their tongues like wolves. Physically, the children were deformed - the tendons and joints in their arms became shorter, making it impossible to walk upright. Kamala and Amala had no interest in interacting with people. It is said that some of their senses worked flawlessly. This applies not only to hearing and vision, but also to a keen sense of smell. Like most Mowgli children, this couple tried in every possible way to return to their old life, feeling unhappy surrounded by people. Soon Amala died, this event caused deep mourning in her friend, Kamala even cried for the first time. Reverend Joseph thought that she too would die and began to work hard on her. As a result, Kamala barely learned to walk upright and even learned a few words. In 1929, this girl also died, this time due to kidney failure.

Victor from Aveyron. The name of this Mowgli boy will seem familiar to many. The fact is that his story formed the basis of the film "Wild Child". Some say that it was Victor who became the first documented case of autism, in any case, this is the well-known story of a child left alone with nature. In 1797, several people saw Victor wandering in the forests of Saint Sernin sur Rance, in the south of France. The wild boy was caught, but he soon ran away. He was seen again in 1798 and 1799, but was finally captured on January 8, 1800. At that time, Victor was about 12 years old, his whole body was covered with scars. The boy could not utter a word, even his origin remained a mystery. Victor ended up in a city where philosophers and scientists showed great interest in him. The news about the found wild man quickly spread throughout the country, many wanted to study him, looking for answers to questions about the origin of language and human behavior. Biology professor, Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre, decided to observe Victor's reaction by taking off his clothes and putting him right outside in the snow. The boy began to run in the snow without showing any negative effects of low temperatures on his bare skin. They say that they lived naked in the wild for 7 years. It's no wonder his body was able to withstand such extreme weather conditions. The famous teacher Roche-Ambroise Auguste Bebian, who worked with the deaf and sign language, decided to try to teach the boy to communicate. But the teacher soon became disillusioned with his student due to the lack of any signs of progress. After all, Victor, being born with the ability to speak and hear, never did it correctly after he was left to live in the wild. Delayed mental development did not allow Victor to begin to lead a full life. The wild boy was subsequently taken to the National Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, where he died at the age of 40.

Oksana Malaya. This story happened in 1991 in Ukraine. Oksana Malaya was left by her bad parents in a kennel, where she grew up from 3 to 8 years old, surrounded by other dogs. The girl became wild; she was kept in the backyard of the house all this time. She adopted the general behavior of dogs - barking, growling, moving on all fours. Oksana smelled her food before eating it. When the authorities came to her aid, the other dogs barked and growled at the people, trying to protect their fellow dog. The girl behaved similarly. Due to the fact that she was deprived of communication with people, Oksana’s vocabulary contained only two words “yes” and “no”. The feral child received intensive therapy to help him acquire essential social and verbal skills. Oksana was able to learn to speak, although psychologists say she has big problems trying to express herself and communicate emotionally rather than verbally. Today the girl is already twenty years old, she lives in one of the clinics in Odessa. Oksana spends most of her time with cows on the farm of her boarding school. But in her own words, she feels best when she is around dogs.

Gin. If you professionally engage in psychology or study the issue of feral children, then the name Jean will certainly come up. At the age of 13, she was locked in a room with a potty tied to a chair. Another time, her father tied her up in a sleeping bag and put her like that in her crib. Her father extremely abused his power - if the girl tried to speak, he would beat her with a stick to keep her quiet, he would bark and growl at her. The man also forbade his wife and children to talk to her. Because of this, Jean had a very small vocabulary, which was only about 20 words. So, she knew the phrases “Stop”, “No more.” Jean was discovered in 1970, making it one of the worst cases of social isolation known to date. At first they thought she had autism, until doctors discovered that the 13-year-old girl was a victim of violence. Jean ended up at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she was treated for many years. After several courses, she was already able to answer questions in monosyllables and learned to dress independently. However, she still adhered to the behavior she had learned, including the "walking bunny" mannerism. The girl constantly held her hands in front of her, as if they were her paws. Jean continued to scratch, leaving deep marks on things. Jean was eventually taken in by her therapist, David Rigler. He worked with her every day for 4 years. As a result, the doctor and his family were able to teach the girl sign language, the ability to express herself not only with words, but also with drawings. When Jean left her therapist, she went to live with her mother. Soon the girl found herself with a new foster parent. And she was unlucky with them, they made Jean become mute again, she became afraid to speak. Now the girl lives somewhere in Southern California.

Madina. The tragic story of this girl is in many ways similar to the story of Oksana Malaya. Madina grew up with dogs without any communication with people. It was in this condition that specialists found her. At that time, the girl was only 3 years old. When found, she preferred to bark like a dog, although she could say the words “yes” and “no.” Fortunately, the doctors who examined the girl declared her physically and mentally healthy. As a result, despite some delay in development, there is hope for a return to a normal lifestyle. After all, Madina is at an age when it is still possible, with the help of doctors and psychologists, to return to the normal path of development.

Lobo. This child was also nicknamed "the wolf girl from the Devil's River." The mysterious creature was first discovered in 1845. A girl ran among the wolves on all fours, attacking a herd of goats near San Felipe, Mexico, along with the predators. A year later, the information about the wild child was confirmed - the girl was seen greedily eating a raw killed goat. The villagers were alarmed by this proximity to an unusual person. They began searching for the girl, soon catching her. The wild child was named Lobo. She constantly howled like a wolf at night, as if calling on packs of gray predators to save herself. As a result, the girl escaped captivity and ran away. The next time a wild child was seen was 8 years later. She was by the river with two wolf cubs. Frightened by the people, Lobo grabbed the puppies and ran away. Since then, no one has met her.

Wild Peter. Not far from Hamelin, Germany, in 1724, people discovered a hairy boy. He moved exclusively on all fours. They were able to catch the wild man only through deception. He could not speak, and ate exclusively raw food - poultry and vegetables. After being transported to England, the boy was nicknamed Wild Peter. He never learned to speak, but he became capable of doing the simplest work. They say that Peter was able to live to an old age.


From childhood, a person is formed under the influence of the conditions in which he grows. And if, before the age of 5, a child finds himself surrounded by animals rather than people, he adopts their habits and gradually loses his human appearance. "Mowgli Syndrome"- got this name cases of children forming in the wild. After returning to people, socialization became impossible for many of them. How the fates of the most famous Mowgli children turned out is further in the review.



The first known case of animals raising children, according to legend, was the story of Romulus and Remus. According to myth, they were nursed by a she-wolf as children, and later found and raised by a shepherd. Romulus became the founder of Rome, and the she-wolf became the emblem of the capital of Italy. However, in real life, stories about Mowgli children rarely have such happy endings.





The story, born from the imagination of Rudyard Kipling, is in fact completely implausible: children who are lost before they learn to walk and talk will not be able to master these skills in adulthood. The first reliable historical case of a child being raised by wolves was recorded in Hesse in 1341. Hunters discovered a child who lived in a pack of wolves, ran on all fours, jumped far, squealed, growled and bit. An 8-year-old boy spent half his life among animals. He could not speak and ate only raw food. Soon after returning to the people, the boy died.





The most detailed case described was the story of the “wild boy from Aveyron.” In 1797, in France, peasants caught a child of 12-15 years old in the forest, who behaved like a small animal. He could not speak; his words were replaced by a growl. Several times he ran away from people into the mountains. After he was recaptured, he became the object of scientific attention. Naturalist Pierre-Joseph Bonaterre wrote “Historical Notes on the Savage from Aveyron,” where he detailed the results of his observations. The boy was insensitive to high and low temperatures, had a special sense of smell and hearing, and refused to wear clothes. Dr. Jean-Marc Itard tried to socialize Victor (as the boy was named) for six years, but he never learned to speak. He died at the age of 40. The life story of Victor from Aveyron formed the basis of the film “Wild Child”.





Most of the children with Mowgli syndrome were found in India: from 1843 to 1933. 15 such cases have been recorded here. Dina Sanichar lived in a wolf den, he was found in 1867. The boy was taught to walk on two legs, use utensils, wear clothes, but he could not speak. Sanichar died at the age of 34.





In 1920, Indian villagers turned to missionaries to help them get rid of creepy ghosts from the jungle. The “ghosts” turned out to be two girls, 8 and 2 years old, who lived with the wolves. They were placed in an orphanage and named Kamala and Amala. They growled and howled, ate raw meat, and moved on all fours. Amala lived for less than a year, Kamala died at the age of 17, having by that time reached the development level of a 4-year-old child.



In 1975, a 5-year-old child was found among wolves in Italy. They named him Rono and placed him in the Institute of Child Psychiatry, where doctors worked on his socialization. But the boy died eating human food.



There were many similar cases: children were found among dogs, monkeys, pandas, leopards and kangaroos (but most often among wolves). Sometimes the children got lost, sometimes the parents themselves got rid of them. Common symptoms for all children with Maguli syndrome who grew up among animals were the inability to speak, moving on all fours, fear of people, but at the same time excellent immunity and good health.



Alas, children who grew up among animals are not as strong and beautiful as Mowgli, and if they did not develop properly before the age of 5, it was almost impossible to catch up later. Even if the child managed to survive, he could no longer socialize.



The fate of the Mowgli children inspired photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten to create

Raised by hermits. For seventeen years he lived in a dugout, where he was later abandoned by his parents. The young man himself said that, according to his parents, he was born in 1993 in the vicinity of the village of Kaitanak outside a medical institution. He has not received any education, has no social skills or understanding of the outside world.

IN November 2011 In the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg, Mowgli girls were discovered - two sisters, six and four years old. They never ate hot food, did not know how to speak, and expressed gratitude like dogs, trying to lick adults' hands. The girls' parents are experienced alcoholics.

IN February 2010 employees of the juvenile affairs inspectorate - without the necessary education and in unsanitary conditions. The owner, born in 1971, lived in a private house, her daughter was born in 1989, an eight-month-old grandson and two granddaughters, one of whom was two years old and the other two months old. At the same time, the older girl at two years old did not speak, but only mooed, the boy at eight months looked like a five-month old, and the younger girl was emaciated. The police did not find any documents on the children.

IN February 2010 in one of the apartments in the Sormovsky district, about which his parents did not care. He was not fed or clothed, his health was not monitored, and his development and training were not taken care of. He was born with mental disabilities and previously attended a special school. Due to inadequate care, his health condition deteriorated significantly.
The child was found thanks to neighbors who began to feed him and showed him to the doctors. The boy spoke poorly and did not remember the last time he washed himself.

IN July 2009 The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Chita deprived the parents of parental rights. According to the Internal Affairs Directorate, the five-year-old girl has never been outside. The owners of the house where she lived did not let anyone into the apartment, did not communicate with neighbors, and appeared on the street mainly to walk their pets. Despite the fact that the baby lived in a three-room apartment with her father, grandparents and other relatives, she hardly spoke, although she understood human speech.

IN February 2009 Juvenile inspectors in one of the houses in the Leninsky district of Ufa found a three-year-old girl who was eating and sleeping with dogs. Her mother drank and lived in a garbage dump. The girl was afraid of people and strove, like a dog, to get on all fours. She didn't know what a spoon was.