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May 2002
Guest Editorial: Taming Tarzan: “Wild” Children Highlight Our Struggle With Nature—and Ourselves

By Lawrence Carter-Long

 

 


Mentally and physically disabled, with a misshapen forehead, sloping right shoulder and protruding chest, a boy—later named Bello—was found in the African jungle in 1996. Experts speculated that he was abandoned because of his severe disabilities.

The disposal of disabled children is common among the nomadic Fulani people of West Africa who travel great distances across the Sahel region. As you might imagine, in most cases the children die, but Bello’s story is unique. Bello was adopted by another family.
A family of chimpanzees.

In 1999, another orphaned boy reared by primates in the African jungle was hailed in the British media as he arrived to sing with a children’s choir.

John Ssabunnya, who was 14 at the time of the tour, was left as a two-year-old in the dense jungle of Uganda to almost certain death. But a troupe of African green monkeys adopted him as their own. He mimicked their mannerisms, became proficient at climbing trees and dined primarily on fruit, nuts and berries for approximately three years.

In 1991 a tribeswoman saw him scavenging naked for food with the monkeys and reported it to other villagers. When they attempted to take him away, the terrified youngster hurled sticks in their direction and scurried up a tree. John’s monkey guardians put up a ferocious fight to prevent the tribesmen from carrying him off.

According to villagers, John was abandoned after his parents were either murdered, as was the case with his mother, or missing, as was his father. After being “rescued” from the monkeys in 1991 John was taken in by an orphanage and eventually began to speak. His caretakers discovered that John was a fine singer and he soon became a celebrated member of the orphanage choir.

“He doesn’t look any different than any other children…but his is a truly remarkable story,” said dentist Hillary Cook, an organizer of the singing tour who had met John after traveling to Uganda to offer dental treatment to orphaned children. “If it hadn’t been for the monkeys’ intervention he would certainly be dead.”

Years later, upon returning to visit the monkeys with an anthropologist, John seemed able to communicate with them and was very protective of his primate protectors.

Is this the stuff of urban legends? Hardly.

From the fanciful adventures of Burroughs’ Tarzan to Kipling’s beloved Jungle Book, tales of “wild” humans have fascinated different cultures and peoples throughout recorded history. Ancient fables tell of the mythical founders of Rome, twin brothers Romulus and Remus, who were suckled by a she-wolf, and the legend of Sir Gowther warns of a hateful child who, after tearing his mother’s nipple while nursing, pays the price for his feral nature by feeding from the mouths of dogs and remaining mute.

Narratives extolling the benefits of so-called civilized behavior rather than an untamed walk on the wild side could be dismissed as cautionary tales designed to imbue social mores and values if left to fairy-tales and fables alone, but the few confirmed accounts of feral children illustrate a far more complex mosaic that offers unique insights into unfamiliar aspects of both human and animal nature.

Studies of feral children have helped psychologists and educators gain a greater understanding of learning disabilities, and contributed indirectly to the development of sign language and Braille. Other questions on human development and education are central to the exceptional factors exhibited by feral children: What aspects of human behavior are genetic, and what aspects are learned? What does consciousness mean?

In Feral Children and Clever Animals, author Douglas Keith Candland relates the story of Victor, a boy of about 11, who was discovered foraging for food in the woods near Aveyron, France in 1799. Victor behaved “like an animal,” enjoyed eating rotten food, was incapable of distinguishing hot from cold, and spent much of his time rocking back and forth like an animal exhibiting stereotypical behavior after being caged. Unlike John, Victor proved very difficult to teach. According to reports, after many years Victor learned only two words. His sense of touch seemed far more important than his ability to see, he did not seem to distinguish right from wrong, and was indifferent to sex. He did learn some menial tasks, however, such as setting a table, and died in 1828 at the age of 40.

In a modern, real-life version of Romulus and Remus, this time in rural India, two young girls were discovered in the care of a she-wolf in 1920. They were taken to an orphanage. The children, Kamala and Amala, were approximately eight years old and 18 months old, respectively. They were nocturnal, preferred to move about on all fours, enjoyed raw meat, and were apt to bite and attack other children if they felt threatened. Amala died one year after capture, but Kamala lived in the orphanage until she died at 17. Kamala eventually acquired a small vocabulary, but remained very distant from other children until the time of her death.
This begs a different set of questions: Is a life of menial labor and setting tables superior to foraging for berries in the woods? Is feeling threatened by an unknown species (even if it is your own) better than living out your life as a wolf? More importantly, who decides and why?

Beyond the questions about human nature that feral children inspire, the unique relationship between feral children and their non-human guardians challenges us to examine animals and our relationship to the natural world in ways that may, in the end, be far more uncomfortable than queries about the intellectual development of our own kind. The assumption that humans have a monopoly on intellect has all but collapsed in recent decades with peer-reviewed studies of apes, dolphins and even parrots. But what about the emotional lives of animals?

Was it empathy, not “intelligence,” that motivated the selfless rescue of Bello, the disabled child who was more trouble than he was worth to even his own parents? Initial hopes that the boy would be adopted have all but vanished six years later.

“We are trying to see what we can do for him,” said a representative from the adoption agency in an April 2002 news report. “We do not know how many years he will have to be here.”

As a species, is it empathy or human arrogance which dictates the few options now open to Bello? What motivated the reactions people had toward Victor, Kamala and Amala? Is it better to simply accept them as the animals did?

Which outlook is more compassionate? Which species more evolved?

Lawrence Carter-Long has over a decade of experience in activism. A former “poster child” for cerebral palsy research and the United Fund, Lawrence has made numerous media appearances in support of animal rights, and is also recognized as an authority on disability issues and communications techniques. He works for the Sacramento-based Animal Protection Institute (www.api4animals.org).

 


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