Mowgli children: how did the fate of babies raised by animals

In northern India, a Mowgli girl was found in a nature reserve who walks on all fours and cannot speak. According to doctors, the child was raised by monkeys. Now she is receiving medical and psychological assistance. The girl is making progress.

How are the fates of children raised by animals? Talks about it program “Mysteries of Humanity” with Oleg Shishkin on REN TV.

Wolf Boy: The sad story of a child who is considered the prototype of Mowgli

“A boy raised by wolves” is the most commonly used description of Kipling’s famous hero Mowgli. The tale of a human child raised by animals was published in 1893 and immediately won the love of readers.

Few people guessed that the story of the story about Mowgli was not fiction. Kipling’s characters had a real prototype.

In 1867, hunters found a six-year-old boy in the Indian jungle. He ran out of the cave along with a pack of wolves. The appearance of the child was frightening: grimy, shaggy, with huge sharp teeth and a low, bulging forehead. The boy moved only on all fours and growled like a predator.

“What happens when a child enters the environment of animals? He completely copies the habits, mannerisms of those animals, those figures that he considers significant for himself”– explained the psychotherapist Olga Pokushalova.

The boy found in the Indian jungle did not let people near him. But the hunters still managed to catch him and bring him to the city. The child was sent to an orphanage and given the name Dina Sanichar.

Dina’s behavior shocked all the staff and residents of the shelter.

“Despite the fact that he was kept in a shelter, dressed, fed, tried to socialize, tried to instill in him the habits of our already human society, this child simply refused to interact with people, was very aggressive towards them and ate only raw meat”– said psychologist Dmitry Dezhin.

Raw meat Dean gnawed with bestial frenzy. The clothes that they tried to put on him were torn to shreds. While the other children played quietly, the wolf cub climbed the trees. No one could find a common language with him. Only after a while Dina had a friend in the shelter.

“They brought the same child, he was also taken from animals. In fact, the second Mowgli. And, oddly enough, they found a common language”– said the publicist Alexei Balin.

Mowgli children spent all their time together. They even slept on the same bed, hugging each other like cubs. But soon Dina Sanichar was left alone again – his new friend fell ill and died.

For Dina, it was a terrible blow. The boy was very worried and even howled with grief.

“We know that in the same way in the animal world, animals like wolves, they become attached. They have exactly the same, well, similar feelings of friendship, solidarity. Therefore, it is not surprising that his behavior”– said the psychotherapist Pokushalova.

Missionaries worked with Dina Sanichar for several years. They were trying to turn a feral child into a normal person. After much effort, the missionaries managed to teach Dina to eat with a spoon, drink from a mug, and walk on two legs. But, despite some success, Dina was still more like an animal than a person.

“He reacted only to the simplest commands – “come eat”, “to me”. As with animals, when we teach them – “lie down”, “stand up”.– said the publicist Balin.

Dina Sanicar spent about 20 years in the shelter. During this time, he was never able to adapt to human society. In 1895, “Indian Mowgli” died of tuberculosis.

Mowgli boys from Germany and France

The case of Dina Sanichar is not unique. Children raised by animals are found from time to time in different parts of the world. So, in 1725, a feral teenager was found in the forests of Northern Germany, who moved exclusively on all fours. The boy was named Peter. And he was sent to serve as a jester at the royal court in London.

A little later, a similar story happened in France. In the forest near the city of Aveyron, a 12-year-old boy was found, who was named Victor. He could not speak, but had an extremely fine ear. A few tens of meters away, he could recognize a rustle or the sound of footsteps.

Both Peter and Victor tried to teach human manners and speech. But in both cases, the attempts were unsuccessful.

“That is, in fact, from birth to seven years, if a child falls into the wild world during this period, he already grows up as an animal. And no experiments on socialization and his return as a member of human society are no longer feasible”– said the psychotherapist Pokushalova.

“Mowgli”, who lived all his life in an ordinary family

Can not find a common language with people and a resident of Rwanda named Zanziman Elli. He was born and raised in an ordinary family, while behaving like Mowgli, brought up according to the laws of the jungle.

“He can’t socialize because he has a low IQ. But he found another way to develop himself. Zanziman Ally made friends with animals. And because his village is in the forests, he adapted to the fact that he just started interact with animals– said the psychologist Dezhin.

The behavior of 23-year-old Zanziman resembles the habits of primates. The young man does not speak and makes strange sounds, similar to the cries of monkeys. The Rwandan refuses homemade food, preferring bananas and grass instead. Whenever possible, Zanziman escapes into the forest.

“Mother runs after him with a lasso. Zanziman moves at such a speed that many compare him to famous runners”– said the psychologist Dezhin.

In his native village, Zanziman was an outcast for a long time. Fellow villagers often mocked and laughed at him, comparing him with a monkey. But recently the life of the “Rwandan Mowgli” has changed dramatically. Now he is a local celebrity. He became famous throughout Africa thanks to journalists – they shot several documentaries about the young man, which were shown on television.

The story of Zanziman touched many viewers. caring people even organized a collection of donations for Ellie’s family. Part of the funds raised went to pay for education at a special center for the disabled. So for the first time in 23 years, Zanziman crossed the threshold of the school. Experts do not exclude that in the near future the “Rwandan Mowgli” will be able to adapt to human society.

You can learn about the incredible events of history and modernity, about amazing inventions and phenomena in the program “Mysteries of Humanity” with Oleg Shishkin on REN TV.