'Siberian Mowgli' Found Living Alone in Russian Forest After Parents Abandon Him
Russian prosecutors have found a real life version of The Jungle Book's Mowgli. Nicknamed "Siberian Mowgli", the man, believed to be 20 years old, grew up in the wild, has never been to school and has had limited interactions with humans.
The man, named Odzhan, was found living in a dugout by himself near in the Altai region. According to a local prosecutor, Odzhan's parents abandoned him in May.
Odzhan, whose name means great soul, was born to a painter named Alexander and a musician named Elena. Alexander and Elena left society at the end of the Soviet era in 1997. They committed to living off the grid in the wild in mud huts and timber houses.
Odzhan has no paperwork but, according to the prosecutor, Odzhan said that he was born in 1993 near the village of Kaitanak in southwest Altai.
"He has no education, no social skills and no ideas about the world beyond the forest," the prosecutor said. "The young man is now still there, in his dugout, getting ready for winter, collecting firewood."
"I'm living well, thank you," Odzhan said. 'We are living well. This is the reality we have that we live here, and it's quite a good reality."
Alexander and Elena educated Siberian Mowgli by themselves. They taught their son English by using a dictionary they brought along with them when they moved to the forest. Odzhan's only goal now is to meet a native English speaker so he can perfect his speaking skills.
"Of course, I need to have practice -- if only I could have a chance to communicate with somebody who speaks no words on Russia -- at least for a month!" he said.
The family occasionally ran into hunters, but beyond that has not interacted with many humans.
"Who am I talking to? Well, life puts us in touch with people when we need to do something, we don't just come together for a sake of chatting," Odzhan said. "So for now it has been mostly adults who I've seen and communicated with.
To survive, the family sold mushrooms and Alexander's paintings.
Odzhan has no desire to travel to a different town or city. "To move closer towards the city?" Odzhan said. "For that we need to have a more cultural society, and of course to change how the cities smell and the pollution."
The Russian prosecutor said that his office will "definitely help" Siberian Mowgli once he obtains an ID from the local court.
Odzhan is not the first Russian child to be raised in isolation. In fact, these types of children are commonly referred to as Mowgli children, based off Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book character. Mowgli the Man Cub, as he is known in Disney's film adaptation of the book, was raised by wolves.
In 2008, social workers found a 6-year-old Mowgli boy. His mother locked him in a closet in their apartment. The boy chirped instead of talking, a skill he learned from the parrots that lived in his home.
In 2011, two Mowgli girls were found in St. Petersburg. The girls were 4 and 6 years old and were raised by alcoholics. They did not speak and had never enjoyed a hot meal. They also licked the hands of their caregivers to express thanks.