Girl found living with monkeys in forest in northern India. 6 April 2017

[Eloise]

I remember there were articles like this weekly in the National Enquirer when I was a kid. I have become so skeptical over my years.

Same.

 

[Indy Anna]

There are true cases of feral children, i.e., children raised in the wild by wild animals. This link lists 14 cases:

http://emgn.com/entertainment/14-sh...f-feral-children-raised-amongst-wild-animals/

I hope that's okay to link. I do recognize some of the cases, including Genie and Victor (the wild boy of Aveyron). We learned about Victor in a Psych class I took for Special Education majors.

 

[Lilibet]

There are true cases of feral children, i.e., children raised in the wild by wild animals. This link lists 14 cases:

http://emgn.com/entertainment/14-sh...f-feral-children-raised-amongst-wild-animals/

I hope that's okay to link. I do recognize some of the cases, including Genie and Victor (the wild boy of Aveyron). We learned about Victor in a Psych class I took for Special Education majors.

Here are a few more cases. It's amazing that this happens. It often speaks better of the wild animals than of the human parents!

https://www.smashinglists.com/10-feral-human-children-raised-by-animals/2/

 

[Indy Anna]

Here are a few more cases. It's amazing that this happens. It often speaks better of the wild animals than of the human parents!

https://www.smashinglists.com/10-feral-human-children-raised-by-animals/2/

Yes, it does.

I think I've seen Oxana's story before, too. If it was her, she even howled at the moon at night. Just amazing how these young children picked up the behaviors of wild animals, were accepted by them, and were able to adapt to their environment, enabling them to survive.

I found a documentary, which includes a segment about Oxana:

[video=youtube;mT1DKTCoXhE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT1DKTCoXhE[/video]


It reminds me of a story by Patrick McManus (a humorist) in which a character, reflecting on a bear cub which he couldn't bring himself to shoot, stated that baby animals were made cute to increase their likelihood of survival (or something to that intent). I guess that could be generalized baby humans--maybe they're readily accepted by wild animals because they are cute. Unfortunately, that cuteness doesn't always protect human babies from other humans, sometimes even their own parents.

 

[Lilibet]

I think the cases that are the most heartbreaking IMO are when children are kept isolated by their own parent, like Genie was. She was just as unsocialized as the children raised by animals, but she had received no nurturing and had been tortured. There was no natural affection. Everything she experienced was grossly unnatural. As rough as life with animals would be, at least they nurtured and protected a child as best they could, putting human parents like Genie's father to shame.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/14/genie-feral-child-los-angeles-researchers

 

[steelman]

Poor little girl. It really bothers me to see a room full of people staring at her photographing her. I would think she'd need a very small group caring for her and nurturing her in private.
JMO

At first I kinda thought the same thing.......why are there so many people standing around watching her every move ? Then I got to thinking, maybe there's some psychology at work here. If you notice, there appears to be not only adults in the room, but plenty of children as well. This may be an intended crash course and an attempt to convey to the girl that this is the species of animals that she should be hanging out with, because they are like her, unlike the monkeys. Basically, acclimating her back into constant contact with humans of all ages. Isolating her by having contact with grown adults and doctors, and only a handful at that, might make her re-entry into society more difficult.

 

[Lilibet]

At first I kinda thought the same thing.......why are there so many people standing around watching her every move ? Then I got to thinking, maybe there's some psychology at work here. If you notice, there appears to be not only adults in the room, but plenty of children as well. This may be an intended crash course and an attempt to convey to the girl that this is the species of animals that she should be hanging out with, because they are like her, unlike the monkeys. Basically, acclimating her back into constant contact with humans of all ages. Isolating her by having contact with grown adults and doctors, and only a handful at that, might make her re-entry into society more difficult.

You make good points. I just hope those photos were taken more recently, giving her a couple of months to acclimate gradually, rather than suddenly. And I hope and will have to trust that she isn't being treated like something to stare at and photograph as if she is an animal in a zoo. That would be exploitation, not psychology. Sadly, the feral kids mentioned in previous posts are generally not reintegrated very successfully iin any case. I hope this little girl is a success story.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I remember there were articles like this weekly in the National Enquirer when I was a kid. I have become so skeptical over my years.

Sadly, abandoned babies (mostly girls) is not a new problem in India (and other countries).

Last year, the Times of India reported that nine-in-ten of the 11 million abandoned children in India were girls. Most were doomed to never find homes, as little over 2,500 were adopted in 2009.

Girls are more likely to be abandoned, sex-selectively aborted or killed in stances of infanticide than are boys. This is rooted in a cultural bias against girls, whose dowries are costly, for one. The consequences of having an unusual number of “missing girls” is a skewed sex ratio. There are now only 914 females for every 1,000 males in India.

https://www.soschildrensvillages.ca/girl-child-endangered-child-abandonment-india

 

[JanetElaine]

[video=youtube;aVVkVxbe00E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVVkVxbe00E[/video]

In this video you can clearly see her hand movements and scratching.......pretty much just like a monkey would do.


I don't know how long she was out there in the jungle with them, but I would think at least 1/2 of her eight years, maybe even more.

The video shows up as 'unavailable' for me. Maybe it's because I'm not in the US right now, or has it been removed from YouTube?

 

[Indy Anna]

The video shows up as 'unavailable' for me. Maybe it's because I'm not in the US right now, or has it been removed from YouTube?

I was able to view the video last night, but not today. They must have removed it.

One thing interesting about the documentary I posted yesterday, and at least one other that followed it, all of these children were abused, neglected or abandoned by their parents and it appeared that in some of the children, at least, inability to progress developmentally beyond a certain stage (in language development, e.g.) was a result of the abuse/neglect the children suffered at the hands of adults who were supposed to be caring for them, and not a result of their isolation from society.

Sobaya (sp?) in Africa, for example, ran away from his abusive stepmother when he was 4 and lived among monkeys in the forest. After he was rescued as a teenager and cared for by nurturing adults and re-introduced into society, he was able to acquire enough language skills to communicate. His caretakers and researchers were able to learn a little about how he survived in the forest, but were perplexed that he stopped learning after a certain point. Drs. took x-rays of his brain and saw that it was normal except for one area. That area had been damaged by a blow to the head, caused by his abusive stepmother.

Researchers also point out that some feral children may have been abandoned at a young age because they were developmentally slow. Ironic, though, that they had the ingenuity to survive alone in the wild. The researcher who worked with Genie discussed the hypothesis that there are critical stages for learning in children, and once they pass that stage learning is inhibited. I do know that young children learn very quickly in the first 3-5 years of life. Since the ability to learn slows down after that, it can be deduced that an older child or adult will have more difficulty learning if they have been deprived during those early years.

These stories are so sad, but show the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I wonder if the monkeys miss her, notice her absence, etc.

 

[Cosmictadpole]

Me too. And I wonder if she misses them.

I wonder if the monkeys miss her, notice her absence, etc.

 

[Indy Anna]

I wonder if the monkeys miss her, notice her absence, etc.

Me too. And I wonder if she misses them.

In the documentary segment on the boy in Africa who lived in the forest with monkeys from the time he was 4 until he was a teenager (IIRC, 17), the researcher concluded there was no emotional attachment between the 2 species. The monkeys only accepted the boy's presence but may have benefited from him in some way, while the boy ate whatever the monkeys discarded from their food supply.

Still, the boy at least felt security among those monkeys, which is something he didn't have in his relationship with his stepmother. But, he transitioned very well into society where he was well cared for by loving humans, and so didn't think of those monkeys unless asked about them. I think this girl will take a little while to adjust to human society, and when she realizes she is safe and cared for by humans she will forget about the monkeys.

ETA: I highly recommend watching at least the documentary I posted above. I watched 1-2 after the first one last night, and they are very informative. MOO

 

[OldSteve]

Appears to be more to this story than first reported:
http://www.newser.com/story/241022/indian-girl-found-in-forest-actually-not-raised-by-monkeys.html

 

[Jax49]

Appears to be more to this story than first reported:
http://www.newser.com/story/241022/indian-girl-found-in-forest-actually-not-raised-by-monkeys.html

Very interesting. One question I'm left with, if she was only there days why was she found nude? moo

 

[Lilibet]

Very interesting. One question I'm left with, if she was only there days why was she found nude? moo

It is a puzzle, but maybe her clothing got wet or she took them off to clean herself or something like that.

ETA: I'm even more puzzled by the fact that, in addition to be naked, she was crawling on all fours and screeching after only a few days. Why? But after being found, she began walking upright again, so that does indicate she wasn't there long.

 

[Lilibet]

Appears to be more to this story than first reported:
http://www.newser.com/story/241022/indian-girl-found-in-forest-actually-not-raised-by-monkeys.html

From the article:

Authorities and doctors now say the girl is mentally and physically disabled and had likely been abandoned in the forest by her family at most a few days before she was found, the Guardian reports.

Some of the "feral children" mentioned on this thread were abandoned or neglected by parents who thought they were mentally and/or physically disabled. So sad.

 

[steelman]

The video shows up as 'unavailable' for me. Maybe it's because I'm not in the US right now, or has it been removed from YouTube?

Whoever posted it on YouTube must have pulled it for whatever reason. I flagged it yesterday for a mod to remove it from the post, or remove the entire post, but so far it hasn't happened. Sorry.

 

[Indy Anna]

Very interesting. One question I'm left with, if she was only there days why was she found nude? moo

She may not have liked wearing clothes to begin with. I've worked with some intellectually disabled children and adults who will strip if given the chance.

 

[teeandcee]

You know, I was immediately suspicious when they said she was found in January but was already walking upright. That seemed like awfully quick advancement. Now that it seems she was only there a short while it makes sense. What's now interesting to me is how quickly she regressed after being abandoned. I hope she's well taken care of from now on.