Feral: The Children Raised by Wolves: Facebook Twitter Reddit Stumbleupon Google +
Feral: The Children Raised by Wolves: Facebook Twitter Reddit Stumbleupon Google +
Feral: The Children Raised by Wolves: Facebook Twitter Reddit Stumbleupon Google +
By Fiona Macdonald
12 October 2015
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from animals than humans, the photographer tells BBC Culture. This image recreates
the case of Ukrainian girl Oxana Malaya. According to Fullerton-Batten, Oxana was
found living with dogs in a kennel in 1991. She was eight years old and had lived with the
dogs for six years. Her parents were alcoholics and one night, they had left her outside.
Looking for warmth, the three-year-old crawled into the farm kennel and curled up with
the mongrel dogs, an act that probably saved her life. She ran on all fours, panted with
her tongue out, bared her teeth and barked. Because of her lack of human interaction,
she only knew the words yes and no. Oxana now lives in a clinic in Odessa, working
with the hospitals farm animals. (Credit: Julia Fullerton-Batten)
shows Shamdeo, a boy who was found in a forest in India in 1972 he was estimated to
be four years old. He was playing with wolf cubs. His skin was very dark, and he had
sharpened teeth, long hooked fingernails, matted hair and calluses on his palms, elbows
and knees. He was fond of chicken-hunting, would eat earth and had a craving for blood.
He bonded with dogs. He never spoke, but learnt some sign language, and died in
1985. (Credit: Julia Fullerton-Batten)
this look as real and as believable as possible. This image deals with the case of John
Ssebunya. John ran away from home in 1988 when he was three years old after seeing
his father murder his mother, says Fullerton-Batten. He fled into the jungle where he
lived with monkeys. He was captured in 1991, now about six years old, and placed in an
orphanage He had calluses on his knees from walking like a monkey. John has
learned to speak, and was a member of the Pearl of Africa childrens choir. While
many of the stories of feral children are as much myth as reality, Ochota believes
Ssebunyas account. This wasnt part of the standard feral-child hoax yarn, she wrote
in The Independent in 2012. We were investigating a real case. (Credit: Julia FullertonBatten)
through the cracks, who were forgotten, or ignored, or hidden. According to FullertonBatten, Madina lived with dogs from birth until she was three years old, sharing their
food, playing with them, and sleeping with them when it was cold in winter. When social
workers found her in 2013, she was naked, walking on all fours and growling like a dog.
Madinas father had left soon after her birth. Her mother, 23 years old, took to alcohol.
She was frequently too drunk to look after for her child and would sit at the table to eat
while her daughter gnawed bones on the floor with the dogs. Madina was taken into
careand doctors found her to be mentally and physically healthy despite what she had
been through. (Credit: Julia Fullerton-Batten)
father was murdered. His grandfather took responsibility for him but still kept him confined
in the chicken coop. For the children, the transition after being found could be as difficult
as the years spent in isolation. When they were discovered, it was such a shock they
had learnt animal behaviour, their fingers were claw-like and they couldnt even hold a
spoon. Suddenly all these humans were trying to get them to sit properly and talk. Kumar
is now cared for by Elizabeth Clayton, who rescued him from an old peoples home and
set up a charity housing children in need. (Credit: Julia Fullerton-Batten)