December 22, 2017 ▸ Other, Psychology

Episode 260: Feral Children: Raised by Lions Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

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On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we explore the phenomenon of feral children. Feral children have been found in all societies throughout human history, the most famous being Remus and Romulus of Greek Lore. In the modern day, however, feral children are still discovered. They are typically kids who were abandoned by parents, mistreated, isolated, or ran away and had to fend for themselves. From lock-in cases who never left their bedrooms through their entire childhood to kids who were raised by monkeys, feral children come in a lot of varieties.

One thing that is especially fascinating about feral children is the rare chance to study the nature versus nurture debate about learning and human behavior. Some of these kids are eventually found by humans and are permanently unable to learn language or even walk upright. They take on the communication habits and body language of the animals they were thought to be raised by (from monkeys and dogs to leopards and birds).

Some of the big cases are Marina Chapman, who was sold and escaped to be raised by capuchin monkeys; she was eventually rescued and lived a normal life and eventually wrote a book about her experiences. Then were Kamala and Amala, the two girls allegedly raised by wolves in India, and Oxana Malaya, the girl raised by dogs in the country outside of her abusive parent’s home. There are also cases of children who spent their lives living like one of their parents pets, or even chained to a toilet for their entire lives.

So, which of these famous cases is thought to be fraudulent? What is true about the feral children? What behavior traits do they all share, and what do psychologists and experts think they say about what it means to be human? Listen, laugh, learn.

Skeptical Response to Feral Children: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4567