Kamala and Amala
Feral Case Study
Prognosis
Should they have been taken out of their environment?
No, they shouldn't have been taken out of their environment.
- Kamala lived too long with wolves to be able to easily adapt to human society
- Amala is younger and would've been able to adapt better because she isn't fully developed and is very impressionable at 18 months old
- However, she succumbed to disease one year after being captured and could have possible survived longer with the wolves
Amala
- Became sick with diarrhoea and dysentry, died in September 1921
- Died before being able to develop speech
Kamala
- Became sick with typhoid and died in 1929
- Had the mind of a 3 and a half year old at age 16
- Was able to learn some language (40 words)
The recovery for both children was unsuccessful.
Background
Conditions and Appearance
Behaviours
The End
Skills and Language Learned
- They were believed to be found by wolves or abandoned
- Lived in wolf pack lair
- Had matted hair, hunched over on four legs
- Appeared to be lithe and healthy
Kamala
- Taught how to walk
- Was housetrained
- Developed a vocabulary of 40 words by age 16 (9 years of training)
- Would only partially say words instead of saying the entire word
- Could form short sentences
Amala
- Was able to make babbling and cooing noises
- Couldn't speak a language and couldn't communicate in words
- Frightened kids by showing teeth
- Refused to wear clothing and tore up any clothing put on them
- Would only eat raw mean
- Slept curled up together; growled and twitched in their sleep
- Woke up after the moon rose
- Howled
- Walked on all fours
- Never smiled or showed interest in human company
- Senses were wolf-like (sharp eyes, smelling meat)
- Sharp Hearing
- Two girls named Kamala and Amala who were raised by wolves
- Kamala was 8 years old and Amala was 1 and a half years old
- They were found by a man named Joseph Singh in India in the year 1920
- He first saw them living in a cage by a local orphanage