The Bear girl of Fraumark (1767)

Verified cases of adoption by bear could be counted on one paw, but this intrepid specimen threw away the rule book. The as yet unnamed girl is believed to have joined a Brown bear community as an infant, having been abandoned in the Hungarian forests. Hunters stumbled across her while shooting one of her furry companions and were shocked as the confused creature attacked them. She was promptly shipped off to the funny farm and remained there forever, as all attempts to normalise her failed. To her death she lived on a strict diet of raw meat and tree bark. Attagirl.

The leopard boy of Dihungi (1920)

The leopard has a deserved reputation for being a man-eater. So when two cubs were found in the North Indian village it must have been a straightforward decision to kill them. But that wasn't the end of the matter, as the bereft leopardess opportunistically swiped a human baby while its mother slept. No hypocrite, she tenderly cared for the child over three years until she was bagged by a sportsman. The boy was then identified and returned to his parents, who must have been thrilled to see him running on all fours and mutilating chickens. After five years of extensive training he regained human functions of speech and movement. He even got married, but never stopped killing small animals.

Kaspar Hauser (1828)

Not all ferals are adopted by animals, in most cases the child is merely isolated from the human world. An extreme case of this was Kaspar Hauser, who was first discovered at the age of 17, staggering through Nuremburg with his name on a piece of paper. It transpired that the boy, (of aristocratic descent) had spent his whole life trapped in a cage "6 to 7ft long", fed only on bread and water. He had been kept there, in a tower, by experimental family members who's motives were never discovered. Hauser became a national phenomenon, popular with the media, freak shows and various rubbernecks. Things improved when he was adopted by the benevolent Earl Stanhope, but he lived a melancholy and confused existence. This ended tragically when he was murdered in a park, by some vicious thug pretending to be his mother.

Victor, the film star (1800)

Immortallised by Francois Truffaut's movie ‘L'enfant savauge', Victor stumbled out of the woods aged 12, covered in scars and growling manically. He had been spotted years before and even captured, but had used all his animal cunning to escape. Appearing during the enlightenment, at a time of fierce debate as to what constituted a man, he became a popular choice for experiments. He was treated well and lived with renowned psychologist Jean Itard, who established a close personal bond with Victor. Itard became his parent and tutor, educating him in language and human values, but Victor remained a near animal until his death at 41. This added weight to the theory of a cut-off point, after which a feral child could not be re-humanised.

Traian Caldarar (2002)

Born to an unhappy home life, the so-called ‘dog boy of Transylvania' found an unlikely refuge from his violent father. Fleeing at the age of four, he was cared for by wild street dogs for the next three years. He survived by learning from their ability to hunt and find shelter, without which he would certainly have died. Traian was eventually discovered by a shepherd, naked and sleeping in cardboard boxes. The half-devoured remains of a dog were found nearby. Despite severe cases of malnutrition and frostbite, the boy survived and was returned to his non-violent mother. He still enjoys chasing cats.