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Zana, the Ape Woman


emmy

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Tales of feral children - children who were raised in the wild by animals - are well known. But the story of Zana is perhaps the most perplexing case on record.

In 1850, a group of hunters were prowling the Ochamchir region of Georgia in Russia when they were astonished by the sight of a young female wild woman. She looked somewhat human, but also had many ape-like features. With great difficulty, they captured the woman and brought her to civilization for study where they named her Zana.

Although she was clearly not an ape, Zana didn't look quite human either. Unlike other feral captures, which were obviously human in appearance, she had thick arms, legs and fingers, a massive bosom and was covered with dark hair. More primitive still was her behavior, which was so vicious that she had to be kept caged for the first few years of her captivity.

The details of her life in the Russian village are sketchy, but apparently Zana's behavior mellowed after a few years and she was taught to perform such domestic tasks as grinding corn. It was said that she had a remarkable tolerance for the cold and disliked being in a heated room.

Although Zana never learned to communicate through human speech, she obviously had developed social abilities since she gave birth to several children sired by various human fathers. How these pregnancies came about exactly is unclear, but it is known that Zana accidentally killed at least one of her children by trying to bathe it in a cold river. Apparently, she thought her offspring had the same tolerance to cold as she did.

Several of her other children were taken from her, for their protection, by families in the village who raised them as their own. Unlike their mother, the children did learn to speak and they eventually had children of their own. Zana died in 1890, and the youngest of her children survived until 1954. Her grandchildren, according to researchers, had dark skin, Negroid features and were extraordinarily strong.

What was Zana? Professor Boris Porchnev of the Moscow Academy of Sciences believed Zana might have been an Alma. An Alma is an elusive creature of Central Asia that is somewhat akin to our own Sasquatch, but with an important difference. Almas are said to be much more humanlike than the common descriptions of Sasquatch. And Porchnev theorized that they might be a surviving clan of Neanderthals!

It has been recently speculated that Neanderthals could and did breed with homo sapiens in the distant past. And, just perhaps, not so long ago. Zana certainly fits the description.

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A most unusual feral person, they look fully human even though they act like the animals that have adopted them. But with Zana, she did not look fully human so maybe she was the female equivalent of the Alma, which has also been suggested at being a neanderthal survivor.

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she obviously had developed social abilities since she gave birth to several children sired by various human fathers. How these pregnancies came about exactly is unclear

This is the saddest part of this story. sad.gif

She was obviously happy (in the sense that she knew no different) when man comes along, and as normal - if things didn’t seem right - throw it in a cage. And the fact she had children by normal males seems like abuse, if you understand she only knew the rudimentary aspects of what we would call ‘civilized’ life. I think it would be safe to say she was taken advantage of.

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she obviously had developed social abilities since she gave birth to several children sired by various human fathers. How these pregnancies came about exactly is unclear
This is the saddest part of this story.

Very sad indeed. Are there any surviving photo's of her, or just the story?

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Yes a very sad story, I would also like to see any photo's if poss.

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That's an interesting story and yes it is sad. Why couldn't they just let her stay in the wild... dontgetit.gif

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, it is sad, and even more so when you take the researcher's other findings that Zana took a liking to wine, and would drink until she passed out for extended periods of time. This is what lead the researcher to believe to be how poor Zana became pregnant. Very disturbing view of the human condition.

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Very sad story. The ppl who made her pregnant make me wish I was a neanderthal to go kick their butts.

Anyways I figured I'd throw in something that is kinda interesting. If anyone here has ever read The 13th Warrior (aka Eaters of the Dead) by Michael Crichton, there is something interesting if you read the stuff after the end of the story. Crichton mentions how he based the wendol on theories that neanderthals may have existed up to at least 1000 years ago and talked about studies that lead scientists to believe that. So the idea of a neanderthal still existing at that time or even today in some of the more northenmost sections of the earth isn't that far fetched.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 7 years later...

I hate to bump such an old post, but this is very interesting. I've found very little about Zana & her children. Everything I've found is basically covered here in the OP's post. Has anyone read anything recently about Zana? Is there any new info to share? It seems crazy that no one would investigate this further!

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I hate to bump such an old post, but this is very interesting. I've found very little about Zana & her children. Everything I've found is basically covered here in the OP's post. Has anyone read anything recently about Zana? Is there any new info to share? It seems crazy that no one would investigate this further!

I would like to hear more also, but they may have stopped studying Zana because of the cruelty perhaps? (It has been done before).

Pics would be cool too :)

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It has been recently speculated that Neanderthals could and did breed with homo sapiens in the distant past. And, just perhaps, not so long ago. Zana certainly fits the description.

How interesting :o

I wanna see some pics of Zana.

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she gave birth to several children sired by various human fathers.

Several of her other children were taken from her, for their protection, by families in the village who raised them as their own. Unlike their mother, the children did learn to speak and they eventually had children of their own. Zana died in 1890, and the youngest of her children survived until 1954. Her grandchildren, according to researchers, had dark skin, Negroid features and were extraordinarily strong.

Professor Boris Porchnev of the Moscow Academy of Sciences believed Zana might have been an Alma. An Alma is an elusive creature of Central Asia that is somewhat akin to our own Sasquatch, but with an important difference. Almas are said to be much more humanlike than the common descriptions of Sasquatch. And Porchnev theorized that they might be a surviving clan of Neanderthals!

One or the other or both do not add up ........... :yes:

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I thought I read several years ago that Zana's decendants were genetically tested and found to be 100% human. Physical abnormalities are sad, but easily passed on to offspring. I think Zana was just an unfortunate woman who got a bad roll of the dice in her genetics.

Of course I could be wrong.... :yes:

Many stories from modern times claim sightings of yetis or almas in Siberia.

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Zana was as human as you or I. She was likely mentally-challenged (they often have strange apperances) and kicked out of her village. Might of had a genetic disorder, to explain the odd appearance. Or she was a feral child, possibly a mix of both. I saw a show on NatGeo (or maybe Discovery? lol) about bigfoot creatures. They managed to get the skull of one of Zanas children, and low and behold... it was completely human! It was a little off, supporting the genetic abnormality. But, it was 100% human, which means Zana was too.

It was sad however that a mentally challenged woman was treated like an animal and kept in a cage... not to mention raped. Still a sad tale of mistreatment :no:

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I always find this tale the most intriguing.

Here is a link to another similar capture from the same region.

If there was a band of surviving Neanderthals, Siberia seems a decent location to exist.

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I always find this tale the most intriguing.

Here is a link to another similar capture from the same region.

If there was a band of surviving Neanderthals, Siberia seems a decent location to exist.

There's a catch: Neanderthals never lived anywhere near Siberia.

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From what I know of the case DNA proved her to be 100%, a truly sad case indeed.

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There's a catch: Neanderthals never lived anywhere near Siberia.

Recent evidence has extended the Neanderthal habitat range by about 1,250 miles (2,010 km) east into southern Siberia's Altay Mountains. Link Under Habitat and Range.

Don't ever say never :lol:

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I found photo evidence of this! :D

rosie(1).jpg

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Recent evidence has extended the Neanderthal habitat range by about 1,250 miles (2,010 km) east into southern Siberia's Altay Mountains. Link Under Habitat and Range.

Don't ever say never :lol:

Touché. I stand corrected.

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  • 2 weeks later...

<!--QuoteBegin-emmy+Oct 15 2003, 11:26 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (emmy @ Oct 15 2003, 11:26 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->

she obviously had developed social abilities since she gave birth to several children sired by various human fathers. How these pregnancies came about exactly is unclear

<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->

This is the saddest part of this story. <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->

She was obviously happy (in the sense that she knew no different) when man comes along, and as normal - if things didn’t seem right - throw it in a cage. And the fact she had children by normal males seems like abuse, if you understand she only knew the rudimentary aspects of what we would call ‘civilized’ life. I think it would be safe to say she was taken advantage of.

I TOTALLY AGREE.THEY TOOK THIS PERSON OUT OF HER NATURAL HABITAT AND SAID THEY WERE "HELPING HER".THEY ALSO SAID THEY TAUGHT HER HOW TO GRIND CORN! SOUNDS LIKE SLAVERY TO ME.THEY SHOULD HAVE LEFT HE ALONE.BUT NOOOO,MAN IS ALWAYS THE SMARTEST SPECIES.BULLS*#!%.

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