Ugandan was world’s most famous wild child

A wild child, or sometimes feral child, is a person who has lived in isolation from humans from a young age.

Cases of children adopted by wild animals, especially primates, have been common in history.

The discovery of children in forests and their adaptation of the habits of the beasts have always amazed many.

One of the most publicised cases of a wild child was of a Ugandan boy, John Ssebunya.

Born in 1984, Ssebunya was adopted by monkeys when he ran away from his home as a four-year-old boy. He had just seen his father kill his mother and commit suicide.

Vervet monkeys in a Ugandan forest gave him food and took care of him until he was found a year later.

When he was rescued, he had black hair all over his body, he walked on his knees, he could climb trees with ease and could not eat cooked food.

Ssebunya became normal after rehabilitation and was even reported to have joined a children’s choir in 1999.

The Ugandan boy’s case arose much interest among scientists.

Famously referred to as ‘monkey boy’, Ssebunya was interviewed by the BBC for a television series called Living Proof.