Kids who survived in jungle – from ‘wolf boy’ to girl ‘kept alive by monkeys’

Four siblings shocked the world this month after surviving nearly six weeks in the Amazon rainforest.

Lesly Jacombaire Mucutuy, 13, protected her younger brothers and sisters, aged nine, five and one, by hiding in tree trunks to evade deadly snakes, poisonous frogs, crocodiles, spiders and wild cats.

They bravely fended for themselves after being in a plane crash that killed their mother.

READ MORE: Four children found alive since going missing for six weeks after jungle plane crash

The resourceful children, members of the indigenous Huitoto people, fed off flour from the wreckage and ate seeds from plants they were familiar with.

They are now recovering in a military Columbian hospital after being rescued earlier this week.

With this in mind, we looked at other kids who lived to tell similarly astonishing tales.

Below, we examine five others who survived the wild against all the odds as youngsters

Ryker Webb

It was this time last year when a boy of three survived two days in near-freezing temperatures in the Montana wilderness that is inhabited by mountain lions and bears.

Ryker Webb was found by a couple who heard him whimpering inside an empty log cabin close to his home.

He had been playing outside with the family dog before wandering off when his dad went back inside for a few minutes.

But he managed to stay alive and warm by snuggling up inside a lawn mower bag after finding shelter from the wind and rain.

Cops described the toddler as being in a “state of shock and frightened” when he was rescued.

Juliane Koepcke

Juliane Koepcke has a similarly extraordinary story to Lesly and her siblings, who are now recovering in hospital.

That’s because she also survived a plane crash over the Amazon rainforest that killed all other 92 passengers on board in December 1971.

She remains alive today after breaking her collarbone in the catastrophic air disaster aged 17 – before wading her way through the dense Peruvian jungle.

Juliane, who went on to become a biologist, had been on the plane with her mum and she remembered: "After about 10 minutes, I saw a very bright light on the outer engine on the left.

“My mother said very calmly: ‘That is the end, it’s all over’. Those were the last words I ever heard from her."

She survived alone for weeks in a jungle riddled with dangerous snakes and spiders before fishermen found her ravaged by hunger.

Marina Chapman

Like the four Huitoto kids, another child survivor of the unforgiving Colombian rainforest was Marina Chapman.

Marina is now in her 70s and lives in Bradford, West Yorks, and she said monkeys kept her safe in the jungle for five years.

She claims to have been snatched from her family garden in rural Colombia before finding a new home inside a hollowed tree.

The former feral kid said a colony of capuchins protected her and she credited “grandpa monkey” for saving her from rotten fruit.

She said: “Grandpa monkey, a white-haired creature with no teeth, approached me and forced me towards a stream, shoving me into the water repeatedly.

“When he let go I lay on the bank coughing, and the coughing turned to vomiting. No sooner was I done than he began chivvying me toward the pool again, where I drank thirstily.”

Marina was eventually captured by hunters and she later documented her remarkable journey in the book The Girl with No Name.

Shamdeo

Shamdeo became known as the “wolf boy” after being found in an Indian forest back in 1972 when he was just four.

The little lad was playing with cubs when he was discovered living alongside wolves.

And according to reports, Shamdeo, who was later comforted by Mother Theresa, had sharp teeth and hooked fingernails and was conditioned to hunt chickens and drink blood.

He never learned how to speak and tragically died 13 years after being rescued.

Karina Chikitova

In more recent times we heard the story of Karina Chikitova who survived 12 days in a forest in Siberia that was teeming with wolves and bears.

The little girl, four at the time, secretly followed her father into the forest in 2014.

It took almost two weeks for people to find her and in that time she stayed alive by eating wild berries.

Her mum, Talina, told the Siberian Times in 2015: “I always believed that she [would] be found.

“Many stopped believing that she was alive, but as a mother I felt that she soon will be found.”

The girl won a place at a prestigious ballet school three years ago – and her dream is to dance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Source: Read Full Article