How the real "Mowgli boy" lives: he eats with wild animals and cannot speak (8 photos)

African Zanziman Ellie has become a star on social media. The boy runs away from home and lives with wild animals for days on end, because locals abuse him. Zanziman's story touched users, and they tried to help him.





How does a boy survive in the jungle?

Zanziman Ellie has been nicknamed "the real Mowgli" on social media. He became famous after a film about his life appeared online. Like Mowgli, he often lives in the jungle, because he cannot find himself in society. He can't speak and communicates with gestures.

"I hardly see him. As soon as he learned to walk, he began to run away into the jungle, where he spends the whole day. Sometimes he leaves for several days, and no one can find him," admits Ellie's mother.



One day, locals found Zanziman among the trees, eating grass and bananas along with wild animals. He ran away from home again when he faced bullying. The hooligans bullied him because of his appearance and called him a "monkey."

Why is the boy being bullied?

Zanziman suffers from a condition called microcephaly, which causes a child to be born with an underdeveloped skull, mental retardation and neurological abnormalities.





Zanziman could run more than 230 kilometers through the jungle in a week, and his mother would run after him with a lasso to catch her son:

"He lives like an animal and runs just as fast. I don't always have the strength to catch him, but I have to save him from danger. If I don't go after him, he just doesn't come home. He likes the jungle, that's his home."

How has "Mowgli's" life changed now?



The boy's life changed when a film crew arrived in Africa to make a documentary about him and show how he lives with his family.

The story of a little boy who runs away from home to live with wild animals in the jungles of Rwanda has a happy ending. The filmmakers set up a GoFundMe page, which has received many donations from around the world.



This has lifted Zanziman and his mother out of poverty. In the 2022 footage, Ellie looks very smart in her school uniform and enjoys a happy life with her mother.



His mother insists that Zanziman's incredible transformation is nothing short of a "miracle." The donations were used to send him to a special needs school, where teachers have been working hard to develop him. Zanziman learned to ride a bike, wash himself and wash his clothes.

"God is a miracle worker. They laughed at him, and I ran after him through the jungle. Now he goes to school with his peers, and I am so happy. My son has a good life, kind people built me ​​a house. I have nothing to be sad about."



What conditions does "Mowgli" live in now?

The family now lives in a new house, where Zanziman has his own bedroom. But what shocks her most is that they now have a TV:

"We used to live in an old house that could collapse at any moment. I didn't believe that my wishes would come true. Here we have everything to call home. It's heaven on earth



Zanziman and his mother