8/16/2019 Feral Child [1]

1/5

4. Kamala and Amala

The story of two young girls, Kamala and Amala, is one of the most famous cases of feral children.

Kamala was 8 years old and Amala was said to be 1 ½ when they were found in 1920. oth girls had

s!ent most of their li"es abandoned and alone. The two were found in #idna!ore, $ndia in a wol"es%

den. &es!ite being found together, those who in"estigated the case belie"e that the two were not

sisters but were sim!ly abandoned around the same time or ta'en by wol"es. The girls were found

after stories s!read throughout the "illage of two (ghostly s!irit )gures* that were often seen with

the wol"es that li"ed in the engal +ungle. The local "illagers were scared of the said s!irits and called

in a e"erend, -ose!h ingh, to get to the bottom of it all. To see what was really going on, ingh hid

in a tree abo"e the ca"e and waited. /hen he saw the wol"es eit the ca"e he waited and then saw

two hunched o"er )gures !ee' their heads out of the ca"e. e wrote down what he saw, describing

them as (hideous loo'ing with foot and body li'e a human being.* e said that the girls ran on all

fours and had no real traits of being human.

ingh e"entually ca!tured the girls, though he had no e!erience in rehabilitating them. The girls

sle!t curled together, growled, tore o their clothing, ate nothing but raw meat, howled, and were

!hysically deformed. The tendons and +oints in their arms and legs shortened, ma'ing it im!ossible

to wal' u!right. The two also had no interest in interacting with humans. ome say that their senses

were im!eccable, es!ecially when it came to hearing and seeing, but e"en their sense of smell was

shar!. Amala e"entually died due to a sic'ness, which then caused Kamala to go into a long3stage of

mourning. ingh thought she would die but she did not and he started a rehabilitation !rogram to

hel! heal her3 she e"entually learned to wal' u!right and say a few words. he died of 'idney failure

in 1929.

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-bizarre-and-unusual-tragedies.phphttp://www.toptenz.net/top-10-bizarre-and-unusual-tragedies.php

8/16/2019 Feral Child [1]

2/5

3. Victor of Aveyron

4ictor 5the /ild oy of A"eyron% is another name on the list that you may sound familiar. ome say

that he could be the )rst documented cause of autism, but he is de)nitely a well 'nown case of achild that was left alone in the wild. At the end of the 18 th century, se"eral !eo!le saw 4ictor

wandering in the aint ernin sur ance woods, which is located in southern 6rance. 4ictor was

ca!tured a )rst time and somehow esca!ed. $t wasn%t until -anuary 8, 1800 that he was caught again

after coming out of the woods on his own, though he was s!otted se"eral times in 1798 and 1799. At

this time he was said to be about 12 years old. is body was co"ered in scars and he was unable to

s!ea' a word. e was ta'en bac' to town where he was generally acce!ted, though once the news

s!read, many came forward wanting to eamine him.

A biology !rofessor, ierre -ose!h onnaterre, decided to eamine 4ictor, ta'ing o his clothes and!utting him outside in the snow. 4ictor began to run around in the snow, showing no ill3eects of the

cold tem!erature on his bare s'in. $t is said that he li"ed in the wild for about 7 years, so it is no

sur!rise that his body was able to ta'e such etreme weather. och3Ambroise ucurron icard then

too' o"er and decided to try to teach the boy, though he soon became frustrated at his lac' of

!rogress. Though he was !robably born with the ability to tal' and hear, he ne"er did so !ro!erly

after being left in the wild. e was e"entually ta'en to the aris $nstitution des ourds3#uets where

he li"ed with #me :u;rin and died at the age of

8/16/2019 Feral Child [1]

3/5

2. Oxana Malaya

$n 1991, =ana #alaya, who li"es in >'raine, was found and considered to be a feral child. At the

time she was found, she was only 8 years old and is said to ha"e li"ed amongst dogssince she was ?

years old. he was 'e!t in a 'ennel in the bac'yard of her home. ecause of this she !ic'ed u!

common beha"iors that dogs ehibit@ bar'ing, growling, and e"en !rotecting the !ac', so to s!ea'.

he e"en wal'ed on four legs as a dog does and snied out her food before she ate it. /henauthorities came to rescue =ana, the other dogs growled and attem!ted to attac' them while

=ana bar'ed and growled as well. ecause of her lac' of human interaction, =ana had no

"ocabulary ece!t the words (yes* and (no.*

he was of course !ut through intensi"e thera!y to attem!t to hel! her to learn necessary social and

"erbal s'ills. he was able to learn how to s!ea', though thera!ists say she has dee! issues with

attem!ting to communicate and e!ress herself emotionally. Today she li"es at the araboy linic in

=dessa and s!ends a lot of her time tending to the cows at the hos!ital%s farm, though she has

e!ressed that she really feels best when she is around dogs.

1. Genie (Wild Child

$f you e"er ta'e a sychology class or get into a con"ersation about feral children, :enie%s name will

!robably come u!. 6or 1? years she was loc'ed inside a room and stra!!ed to her !otty chair, other

times she was bound in a slee!ing bag and !ut inside a crib. er father, the one behind the abuse,

would hit her with a stic' if she e"er s!o'e and he would bar' and growl at her to 'ee! her uiet. e

http://www.toptenz.net/top-ten-animated-dogs.phphttp://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-scientific-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-wrong.phphttp://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-scientific-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-wrong.phphttp://www.toptenz.net/top-ten-animated-dogs.phphttp://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-scientific-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-wrong.php

8/16/2019 Feral Child [1]

4/5

also forbade his other children and e"en his wife from s!ea'ing. ecause of this, :enie had a "ery

small "ocabulary, consisting of about 20 words. The !hrases she did 'now included (sto! it* and (no

more.* he was disco"ered in 1970 and today she is considered to be one of the worst cases of social

isolation 'nown. he was often thought to be autistic until doctors found out she was really 1? and

was a "ictim of abuse.

he was ta'en to hildren%s os!ital Bos Angeles where she was treated for years. After some

treatment, she was able to answer uestions in one3word answers and she learned how to dress

herself. owe"er, she still held onto her learned beha"ior, including a (bunny wal'* where she held

her hands u! in front of her as if they were !aws. he also scratched and e"en clawed at things.

8/16/2019 Feral Child [1]

5/5

Though she was mo"ed around a lot, she found home with her thera!ist &a"id igler for < years,

who wor'ed with her daily. e and his family taught :enie sign language as well as ways to e!ress

herself without s!ea'ingC drawing was a method. :enie then went to li"e with her mother, and then

abusi"e foster !arents, which then caused her to become mute again and afraid to s!ea'. Today she

is li"ing somewhere in outhern alifornia.