Lost or abandoned children raised in extreme social isolation, either surviving in the wild through their own efforts or "adopted" by animals.

The term "feral" means wild or undomesticated. Psychologists have studied feral children—children reared in complete or nearly complete isolation from human contact—to gain insights into aspects of human socialization and development. When feral children enter human society after their developmental years in isolation, they often continue to be seriously retarded. Researchers seek to answer the question of whether the abnormalities existed before their removal from society or developed because of their isolation.

Interest in feral humans began as early as the 1700s and continues to modern times. When Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) developed the system of scientific classification for plants and animals, he included the classification of loco ferus —"feral" or "wolf men, characterized as four-footed, nonspeaking, and hairy...