Lithuanian Bear-Boys, Said Taxonomist Linnaeus, Were a Human Sub-Species

1757-58 C. Linnaeus: "Systema Naturæ," detail of a page in Volume I

The most well-known instances of children being reared by animals such as wolves, apes, monkeys, and bears includes Romulus and Remus, Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli, and Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan. In the mid-18th century, Swedish biologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1757-58) formalized the modern system of naming organisms, and is known as the "father of modern taxonomy." The above image of a page from his two-volume 1758-59 tenth edition of "Systema Naturæ" depicts his classification of Lithuanian Bear-Boys as a human sub-species: Juvenis Ursinus lithuanus, characterized as walking on all fours, mute and hairy.

"Lithuanian bear-boys" refers to feral children supposedly raised by Eurasian brown bears in the forests of Lithuania. French surgeon and historian Serge Aroles studied the original archives (dating to the 1660s) of Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Marie Louise Gonzaga (Liudvika Marija) and debunked the idea that there were three separate bear-boys (often cited as appearing in 1657, 1669, and 1694). Historical analysis confirms one boy, about nine years old, was captured in spring 1663, living with bears and walking on all fours, by hunters in Lithuanian forests. While the hunters spotted two boys, the second was never caught. It is thought they were siblings accidentally abandoned by their parents while fleeing Tatar raids. Brought to Warsaw, the boy, given the name Joseph, learned to walk upright and eat cooked meat. He refused to wear clothes and never managed to speak fluently. According to 1698's "The History of Poland" by Irish doctor Bernard Connor, who actually met the bear-boy, Joseph escaped to the woods several times and would suck the sap of trees, and gather wild honey and crab apples. Once a wild bear, notorious for having killed two men, was seen to approach him and lick his face.

Linnaeus included children from other countries in his category of mute, hairy, quadrupeds, but he listed Lithuanian Bear-Boys as the first example of the sub-species.