Living Wild
Throughout history feral children have been regarded with fascination and have played an important
part in the mythology of nations; according to legend, the twins Romulus and Remus, raised by a shewolf,
were responsible for the founding of Rome nearly 3,000 years ago. It is not just wolves which
have adopted and brought up human children as their own: there are numerous documented cases of
dogs, bears and monkeys which have done the same. Even sheep and cows have been known to give
shelter to human infants.
Perhaps the most famous wolf-raised child is the fictional Mowgli, invented by the English author
Rudyard Kipling who spent some of his life in India. It is fitting that the best-known feral child should
come from India, for it is there, to this day, that the largest number of such children have been found.
Kipling established the typical behaviour of ‘wolf-children’, which has been repeatedly confirmed in
real-life examples. They are immediately recognisable because of their nakedness and dirtiness, as
well as by their long matted hair, and teeth which are sharper and more pointed than normal human
teeth.
Another trait which ‘wild’ children have in common is that they run on all fours like animals, and have
hardened, calloused hands and knees as a result. Also, like wild animals, they are most active at night
and sleep during the day. Furthermore, they emit animal sounds and like to play with animals rather
than humans, towards whom they are aggressive, sometimes even biting them. Because they have no
immunity to human infections, they tend to have short lives.
Perhaps the most archetypal of the Indian wolf-children stories is that of Kamala and Amala, found in
India in 1920. Supposedly either taken or found as babies by a female wolf, they were brought into the
wolf’s litter and raised as cubs until they were found when aged about three and five. Although over the
years they were socialised to a degree, they always preferred the company of animals, and they never
learnt enough human speech to communicate effectively.
Traian Caldarar from Romania was four years old when he was ‘lost’ under circumstances which are
not clear. He was not found until three years later in 2002, when a shepherd came across him sleeping
in a cardboard box in the mountains. He had been eating the carcasses of dead sheep, and police
speculated that he must have been looked after by one of the wild dogs which live in packs in the
mountains, because there was no other way he could have survived for so long. When found, he was
wild-eyed and walked with a chimpanzee-like gait. He was very agile and police had difficulty capturing
him. Like all wild animals, he hated confinement and sought open spaces. When shown a bed, he
chose to sleep on the floor under it. This behaviour raised the question of how far such children should
be forced to conform to human social conventions when they would rather continue to live contentedly
as animals.