May
2002
Guest
Editorial: Taming Tarzan: “Wild” Children Highlight
Our Struggle With Nature—and Ourselves
By Lawrence Carter-Long
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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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