SEVEN KIDS – INCLUDING WOLF MAN – WHO WERE RAISED BY WILD ANIMALS
These are stories of real-life Mowgli's, who were raised by wild animals. Seven kids, including Wolf Man, who defied the odds and survived.
In this day and age, what is the likelihood that a child could go missing, and be raised by wild animals? Well, as it turns out, it's happened more often than we think.
It may sound like a fantastical tale, like Mowgli from The Jungle Book. But, these seven kids are proof that fiction is sometimes fact.
Take the story of Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja, a Spaniard born 7 June 1946. He's also known as the Wolf Man. When Marcos was three-years-old, his mother passed away while giving birth to her fourth child. His father remarried, but his new step-mother was cruel and subjected him to abuse for years.
The abuse stopped when he was seven, only because he was sold to a local landowner who owned a goatherd. He was enslaved and forced to work as a goatherder, but the landowner died shortly after.
Abandoned and forgotten, Marcos was left to fend for himself. He tried to drink milk from the goats and catch pheasants and rabbits for a few weeks without much success. Eventually, he started to watch and imitate the wildlife of the Sierra Morena mountains.
He learned how to dig for roots after watching wild boars do it, and he saw what berries to eat from the birdlife. He started setting traps for rabbits and other rodents and taught himself how to hunt small deer.
It wasn't long before he crossed paths with a pack of wolves. He sought shelter in a cave that happened to host a den of cubs. Seeking warmth, he fell asleep with the young wolves but was awoken by a hostile growl from their mother.
Bizarrely, the mother wolf accepted this small human. This was to be the start of a twelve-year-long journey for Marcos with, literally, no contact with any other person. His only interaction was with the wolves, hunting and sharing meals together while avoiding wild boars.
It was only in 1965 that the police stumbled across the now 19-year-old Wolf Man. He had long, matted hair and was wrapped in a deerskin. After all this time, he had completely forgotten how to communicate with another human, and howled, clawed and bit at the officers when they tried to restrain him.
His re-integration into society was difficult, but nuns and a priest from a nearby hospital took it upon themselves to teach him how to talk, walk upright and eat with cutlery. Sadly, when his father saw him for the first time after so many years, he simply expressed his disappointment at Marcos for losing his jacket.
Over time, he rejoined society and went to the military before working as a pastor. Unfortunately, he fell foul to scammers and fraudsters over the years, who took advantage of his limited understanding of money. Eventually, he lived in a cave briefly before moving to a secluded village in the country.
It was here that he was taken under the wing of a retired police officer. They became like family until the officer's death a few years later.
In his 70s, Marcos still lives as a recluse in the village, where he's sponsored by a Dutch family. He gives talks on his experience, and his story has been captured in films and documentaries. According to Wikipedia, "He has developed some animosity for the noise and smell of cities, considering that life between humans is worse than life with animals".
It's a remarkable story, just like the other six in the video by #Mind Warehouse below about kids raised by wild animals. Go on, click play to find out all about them.