A five-year-old girl who was allegedly "brought up" by cats and dogs in a flat has been taken into care, Russian police have revealed
The child, who lived in the eastern Siberian city of Chita, could not speak Russian and acted like an dog.

"For five years, she was 'brought up' by several dogs and cats and had never been outside," a police statement said.

"The unwashed girl was dressed in filthy clothes, had the clear attributes of an animal and jumped at people," it said.

The flat had no heat, water or sewage system.

A police spokeswoman said the girl, known as Natasha, is being monitored by psychologists in an orphanage.

Her mother was being questioned but her father has not been found yet.

She has the appearance of a two year old, although her real age is five.

The youngster refuses to eat with a spoon and has taken on many of the gestures of the animals with which she lived, police said.

"When carers leave the room, the girl jumps at the door and barks," the police said.

Feral children, the stuff of folklore all over the world, usually exhibit the behaviour of the animals with whom they have had closest contact.

The condition is known as the Mowgli Syndrome after the fictional child from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book who was raised by wolves.

Such children have usually built strong ties with the animals with whom they lived and find the transition to normal human existence highly traumatic.

OMG thats awful

OMG... they have a TV special about this on TLC here.. it's crazy!!

Mad or what.

Woah! That's crazy!

poor baby what was her mum doing all her life??

poor baby

I saw something about a similar thing on TV recently but the girl is a teenager now I think?
its amazing how they manage to survive but its so sad that they didnt have human contact/stimulation & love while they were young so they have difficulties later in life adapting x

not nice. Ive heard that it can be such a shock to them living with real people that they can die of a heartattack/shock

I think it is always quite interesting. I don't think it didnt get enough love though. Sure it didnt get love from its parents, but I think it got them from its foster parents, the dogs