- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
A man who was raised by wolves in rural Spain has died at the age of 80.
Known as the 'Mowgli of Spain,' Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja said his happiest days were the 12 years he spent living among a pack of wolves after becoming stranded in the Sierra Morena mountain range at the age of seven.
Treating Pantoja as one of their own, the wolves fed him scraps of food and slept with him in caves.
It wasn't until 1965, when the Spaniard was 19, that he was found running around half-naked and barefoot - only using grunts for communication.
Pantoja, who spent the later years of his life in the northern Spanish province of Ourense, passed away on August 15.
His extraordinary story began after he was sent to the Sierra Morena mountain range in 1954 as a goatherd after his mother died in childbirth when he was three and his abusive father ran off with another woman.
The old man he was training to replace taught him how to use fire and make utensils, but either died or suddenly left, leaving the small boy stranded and alone.
He says he survived by observing which berries and root vegetables animals ate and was eventually fed by a mother wolf who later adopted him.
Spaniard Marcos Rodríguez Pantoja, who was raised by wolves, has died at the age of 80
His extraordinary story began after he was sent to the Sierra Morena mountain range in 1954 as a goatherd
He recalled in interviews how he watched as the she-wolf fed her cubs some meat.
'After feeding her pups, she threw me a piece of meat. I didn't want to touch it because I thought she was going to attack me, but she was pushing the meat with her nose,' he told the BBC in 2013.
'I took it, ate it, and thought she was going to bite me, but she put her tongue out and started to lick me. After that, I was one of the family.'
Pantoja said he also had a snake for company who followed him around because he fed her goat's milk.
He was eventually found in 1965 by the Civil Guards. By then, he had spent 12 years in complete isolation from human beings.
Officers removed him from the mountains by force, bound and gagged, as he howled and bit like a wolf.
Pantoja said returning to civilisation was the scariest experience of his life. He was first sent to an orphanage where nuns taught him how to walk up straight, eat at a table and speak again.
He was confined to a wheelchair for a time after thick callouses were cut off his feet, and his first visit to a barber had him terrified that the razor would cut his throat.
Pantoja described how he was scared by the sounds of cars and bustling crowds, and that he often fought with the nuns about sleeping in a bed.
He was later sent to Mallorca, where he lived in a hostel and worked.
But he struggled to integrate into society.
While living in a rented apartment, he said he slept on the floor on a pile of blankets.
He was eventually found in 1965 by the Civil Guards. By then, he had spent 12 years in complete isolation from human beings
Pantoja spoke about his struggles trying to reintegrate into society
He completed military service and ended up working as a shepherd and in the hospitality industry.
However, he claimed that he was taken advantage of financially by acquaintances, as his cultural and financial understanding was limited.
In 2018, he gave an interview in which he said he was disappointed in human nature and wished he could leave society.
Pantoja eventually tried to return to the mountains but found it was a very different place from what he remembered, and his cave was replaced with cottages and electric gates.
The wolves also didn't accept him anymore and kept their distance.
'You can tell that they are right there; you hear them panting, it gives you goosebumps… but it's not that easy to see them,' he said.
'There are wolves, and if I call out to them, they are going to respond, but they are not going to approach me. I smell like people; I wear cologne.'
In 2010, he became the subject of the Spanish film 'Among Wolves'.