Man is a friend to the wolf: the Spaniard has lived with predators for 12 years and cannot get used to people for 50 years

Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja (Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja) lived for 12 years among wolves in the mountains of the Spanish province of Cordoba. At the age of 19, he was discovered by the Spanish Civil Guard and returned to civilization. But even now, at 72, he has not adapted to life among people.

Source: Oddity Central

Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja was born in 1946 in Aniora. When he was three years old, his mother died, and his father left the boy and went to live with another woman in a neighboring town. Marcos was taken to the mountains to help an old shepherd. After a while, the shepherd died, and the child was left alone. Then in one of the caves he found a she-wolf with cubs, who accepted the boy into their family.

It is unclear how Marcos was able to survive among wild predators, but when he was discovered by the civil Guards, he let out an animal roar. Marcos was returned to civilization, but he was never able to adapt to life with people. At some point, he even wanted to return to the wolves, but "it wasn't the same anymore", the wolves no longer saw him as a brother.

Marcos says his last happy memories are of living with wolves, of the "woman" who first showed him maternal love, and of her cubs who adopted him as a brother. They taught him how to survive in the wild, showed him which mushrooms and berries are safe to eat and which are poisonous. Marcos remembers sleeping in caves with bats, snakes and deer.

But those happy years ended when he was discovered 53 years ago. Since then, Marcos' life has gone downhill. He says he is being deceived, exploited, and laughed at because he doesn't know much about football and politics.

Marcos now lives in a small village in the province of Ourense. Despite the general disappointment of living with people, Marcos is glad at least that some neighbors took him for their own. A man likes to talk to children about the love of animals and the need to protect the environment. Marcos is even sometimes invited to lecture at schools. Apparently, children are the people in whose company Marcos feels most comfortable.