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What is a feral child? -

A feral child, or wild child, is a human child who has grown up isolated from humans.

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What is a feral child? -

By not having contact with humans from such a young age, these children are not exposed to contact, language, and behaviors they normally would if they were raised among humans.

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Wild child -

As a result, they do not develop the social skills they otherwise would, and are unable to communicate through a common language.

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Behaviors - Because these children learn from their environment, things such as using the toilet like other humans do, or even walking upright, do not come natural to them.

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Isolation -

Many children are raised in isolation. This includes being locked in a room for years and being confined to a place without human interaction.

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Isolation -

Lack of social interaction can have huge repercussions in terms of physical and cognitive development, among other things.

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Raised by animals -

But some of these children are also raised with (and by) animals. They are either put in places cohabiting with animals, or do so in the wild.

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Raised by animals -

Throughout history there are records of children raised by primates, wolves, dogs, sheep, bears, cattle, goats, ostriches, and even pumas.

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Fiction -

Some stories of wild children are indeed folklore, and books such as Rudyard Kipling's ‘The Jungle Book’ perpetuated the myth with fictional characters like Mowgli.

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Fiction -

And so did the character of Tarzan in the beginning of the 20th century, and whose popularity persists to this day. Not to mention the more recent spoof, 'George of the Jungle.'

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Legend -

The Roman myth of the Capitoline Wolf and the twin brothers Romulus and Remus is also a very present one in popular culture.

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History -

The popularity of the feral child narrative has also led to many hoaxes throughout the years. But this has not always been the case. Let's look at some famous real cases (and others that are maybe not so real) of feral children throughout history.

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John of Liège -

In 1644, Sir Kenelm Digby (pictured) reported that John of Liège escaped to the woods in Belgium when he was five during a religious war. He stayed there for 16 years. John was found back in civilization while trying to steal food.

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John of Liège -

Reportedly he had developed a “dog-like sense of smell,” which eventually dulled after some time. According to Sir Digby’s account, he had “forgotten the use of all language.” Though John eventually started talking again.

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Peter the Wild Boy -

Around 1725, a teenage boy was found in the woods in northern Germany. He was naked and mute. He was brought before King George I of Great Britain, who christened him Peter and took him to London.

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Peter the Wild Boy -

Peter was used to entertain royal guests at parties with his wild behavior. He never learned how to speak and preferred to sleep on the floor.

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Peter the Wild Boy -

He was later sent to the countryside and died in 1785. Scientists speculate that he might have suffered from a rare neurological condition called Pitt-Hopkins syndrome.

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Marie-Angélique Memmie Le Blanc -

The “Savage Girl of Champagne” appeared in the French village of Songy in 1731. She didn't speak French and ate raw meat.

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Marie-Angélique Memmie Le Blanc -

She was eventually baptized and sent to live in a convent. Years later, Marie-Angélique reported that she was brought to Europe as a slave. Research suggests she was originally a Meskwaki Native American from an area that is now Wisconsin.

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Victor of Aveyron -

This feral child was found in the woods in 1800, near Aveyron, France. He was around 12 years old. He was naked and mute, and refused any human contact.

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Victor of Aveyron -

Physician Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard worked with the boy for years. Victor eventually bathed and wore clothes, but never managed to dominate the use of language.

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Kaspar Hauser -

In 1828, a teenager appeared in Nuremberg, Germany, saying his name was Kaspar Hauser and that he had lived 13 years locked in a small room. He said he was being released from the house to pursue a military career.

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Kaspar Hauser -

The boy had developed extraordinary night vision, but his complexion and how easily he learned language led to speculations of a hoax and conspiracy theories. To this day, questions remain unanswered.

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Dina Sanichar -

Dina Sanichar was found by hunters in 1867 in the Bulandshahr district of India. He was around six years old and had lived in the wilderness, walking on all fours, with wolves.

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Dina Sanichar -

He was brought to the Sikandra Mission Orphanage in Agra, where missionaries tried to rehabilitate “Wolf Boy.” He died in 1895, having never learned to talk and still preferring raw meat to cooked food. (Picture from the movie 'The Wild Child')

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Ramu -

Ramu was found in Lucknow, India, in 1954. He had reportedly been raised by wolves and was also dubbed “Wolf Boy.”

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Ramu -

This theory has been challenged and some believe it to be a hoax, as it's highly unlikely he would've survived being handled by the sharp teeth of wolves at such a young age. (Illustrative picture)

Sources: (History)

See also: Why we all need human touch

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