8 Year Old Girl Raised by Monkeys
April 6, 2017 5:37 PM   Subscribe

8 year old girl living comfortably with monkeys "The child was so acclimated to her simian lifestyle at the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary that when the cops tried to rescue the real-life “Mowgli girl,” both the apes and the child screeched at them, the Times of India reported."
posted by grobertson (26 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
There haven't been that many cases of well-documented feral children. For those children without human care during the critical early developmental period, it's unlikely that they'll ever acquire language. In our stories, we tend to romanticize this to some degree, but the truth of it is really quite sad.

Not, however, as sad as the child simply dying of exposure and neglect. In that sense, every case of a feral child is a kind of a miracle of survival.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 6:08 PM on April 6, 2017 [27 favorites]


My sense is that most cases of feral children turn out to be hoaxes, or at least children who weren't actually living with animals for very long. I wonder what this kid's story is.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:09 PM on April 6, 2017 [10 favorites]


So what? I was raised by hominids...
posted by jim in austin at 6:17 PM on April 6, 2017 [8 favorites]


Thanks to modern medical science, one can now live very comfortably with a case of monkeys

Case? I had a whole barrel.
posted by borkencode at 7:55 PM on April 6, 2017 [4 favorites]




As someone who has worked closely with rhesus macaques for years, let me tell you: She has their mannerisms down. The sort of "loose hands" posture, the intense neutral expression, even how she handles objects. I wouldn't presume to know what her situation is clinically, but this is so exactly how I would expect a monkey disguised as a human to behave that it raises the hair on the back of my neck.
posted by belarius at 8:40 PM on April 6, 2017 [61 favorites]


It would be interesting to know how long she's been with the monkeys, as that will likely tell us what she can (re)learn about living as a human. The human brain is pretty amazing and adaptable, but there are stages of our development where, if you don't learn to do something before that stage is over, it will be lost to you forever. I can't imagine she's been with the monkeys for more than a few years, which leaves some hope for her reintegration into humanity.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 9:27 PM on April 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I have the feeling this is a hoax.
posted by My Dad at 9:35 PM on April 6, 2017


So what? I was raised by hominids...

I bet you screeched at the police when they came to take you away as well.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:08 AM on April 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


After being rescued, she will eat bacon, watch the first season of The Wire and recite "The Trump Doctrine".
Her only comment so far has been "RRRRRR".

I wish I could go live in the jungle.
posted by beesbees at 2:19 AM on April 7, 2017


I saw this earlier, if the story is real, I really hope she still gets to spend time with her monkey family. It seems sad to separate them without letting her visit the ones who kept her alive.
posted by xarnop at 3:42 AM on April 7, 2017 [12 favorites]


MetaFilter: Exactly how I would expect a monkey disguised as a human to behave
posted by Wolfdog at 6:25 AM on April 7, 2017 [10 favorites]


No one else is bothered by the headline talking of her being raised by monkeys, but the pull quote talking about apes? Just me then?
posted by nubs at 7:56 AM on April 7, 2017 [5 favorites]


Why on earth would this be a hoax? That's a lot of people involved in that video. It's not like this hasn't happened before.

The thing I always wonder is if the child had cognitive problems or verbal issues to begin with, was abandoned, and then found refuge with a new animal family. It makes the question of whether the child can learn to speak much more difficult. However, in this case they state she is deaf so language at this age may be very difficult indeed.
posted by agregoli at 8:10 AM on April 7, 2017


Here's the Times of India story the NYPost is rewriting. And here's the story in ANI UP, the local news service.

I find it strange that people here read this story and think it's something funny to joke about. Or to call it a hoax, with no evidence. What I see is a story of a child who has been severely damaged. And probably a story of Indian poverty and the particular risks to little girls.
posted by Nelson at 10:26 AM on April 7, 2017 [16 favorites]


She was found emaciated and suffering from malnutrition. I don't know if I'd call that "comfortably".
posted by Anonymous at 10:47 AM on April 7, 2017


Thanks, Nelson. The callous nature of the jokes here took me by surprise as well.
posted by agregoli at 11:49 AM on April 7, 2017 [3 favorites]


I don't know if I'd call that "comfortably".

I presume they meant she was comfortable with the monkeys.
posted by serena15221 at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2017


Speculating that this child was abandoned due to being disabled is ableist and hurtful, particularly to disabled MeFites. Please refrain.
posted by epj at 1:24 PM on April 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


Speculating that this child was abandoned due to being disabled is ableist and hurtful, particularly to disabled MeFites. Please refrain.

Leaving children to die isn't pleasant, but it has a long tradition behind it.
posted by Sebmojo at 4:37 PM on April 7, 2017 [2 favorites]


This young person faces many challenges going forward; I hope she has compassionate advocates to help her.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:16 PM on April 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


Leaving children to die isn't pleasant, but it has a long tradition behind it.

Lots of things have long traditions behind them that, if you casually muse about them on your internet board will unintentionally really hurt some of your fellow community members.
posted by Space Coyote at 1:04 AM on April 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


Guardian: Indian girl found in jungle was not living with monkeys, officials say
But far from being raised by animals in the Katarniya Ghat forest range, the girl, who doctors believe has mental and physical disabilities, was likely to have been recently abandoned in the wilderness by her carers, the district chief forestry officer said.

JP Singh said the girl was actually found on a roadside near the forest, not deep in the wilderness. And though there were monkeys in her vicinity, his rangers “never found this girl living with monkeys”, he said.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:38 AM on April 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I just read that article. Some feral children stories are hoaxes, but many are exaggerated and sensationalist to the point of confusion. There have been very, very few truly feral children and such stories should always be approached with some skepticism. And not only that, but arguably some outrage about how heartbreaking stories of neglect and abandonment and impoverishment are turned into romanticized and voyeuristic stories in the mass media.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:14 AM on April 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


Talking about a reason this might have happened is in no way intended to hurt anyone here. It's a legitimate question when encountering "feral" children who cannot speak. This is a question actual researchers ask when involved in these cases.
posted by agregoli at 7:26 AM on April 16, 2017


An update on the story from Times of India. Her caregivers have given her the name Ehsaas.
posted by Nelson at 7:45 AM on April 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


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