In modern Egypt, though, donkeys were disfavoured as wet nurses as it was thought that a child suckled on donkeys' milk would acquire the animal's stupidity and obstinacy. Goats were thought to transmit a libidinous character and some preferred to employ donkeys as wet nurses instead, as they were thought to be more moral animals. The belief that animal characteristics could be transmitted via milk was widely held the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus thought that being suckled by lionesses conferred great courage. (It is now thought he had Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, a condition unidentified until 1978. His coarse, curly hair was attributed to his being (supposedly) suckled by a bear, based on the premise that characteristics of the animal foster mother had been transmitted to him via her milk. One real-life case was that of Peter the Wild Boy, found in northern Germany in 1724. Stories of abandoned children being brought up by animal mothers such as she-wolves and bears were widespread in Europe from the Middle Ages and into modern times. The story reached Europe in a Latin translation, and then in 1708 an English edition. Ī 12th century novel from Al-Andaluz, Hayy ibn Yaqdhan, has the title character growing up in isolation on a tropical island, fed and raised by an antelope. In reality, though, such stories probably owed more to myth-making about such prominent figures, as they were used as evidence of their future greatness. Several famous ancient historical figures were claimed to have been suckled by animals Cyrus I of Persia was said to have been suckled by a dog, while mares supposedly suckled Croesus, Xerxes and Lysimachus. Similarly, Telephus, the son of the demigod Heracles, was suckled by a deer. The Greek god Zeus was said to have been brought up by Amalthea, portrayed variously as a goat who suckled the god or as a nymph who brought him up on the milk of her goat. Most famously, twin brothers Romulus and Remus (the former founded Rome) were portrayed as having been raised by a she-wolf which suckled the infants, as depicted in the iconic image of the Capitoline Wolf. The suckling of infants by animals was a repeated theme in classical mythology. The Jewish Talmud permits children to suckle animals if the child's welfare dictates it. It was not until as late as the 1870s that stored animal milk became safe to drink due to the invention of pasteurisation and sterilisation. Suckling directly was preferable to milking an animal and giving the milk, as contamination by microbes during the milking process could lead to the infant contracting a deadly diarrheal disease. To avert that possibility if a wet nurse was not available, an animal such as a donkey, cow, goat, sheep or dog could be employed. Unless another lactating woman was available, a mother who lacked enough breast milk was likely to lose her child. It is possible that some infants directly sucked lactating animals, which served as alternatives to wet nurses. Terracotta feeding bottles surviving from the third millennium BC in Sumeria indicate that children who were not being breastfed were receiving animal milk, probably from cows. A wide variety of animals have been used for this purpose, including puppies, kittens, piglets and monkeys.īreastfeeding by animals of humans Breastfeeding animals has also been practised, whether for perceived health reasons – such as to toughen the nipples and improve the flow of milk – or for religious and cultural purposes. Goats and donkeys were widely used to feed abandoned babies in foundling hospitals in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Animals were used as substitute wet nurses for infants, particularly after the rise of syphilis increased the health risks of wet nursing. The practice of breastfeeding or suckling between humans and other species occurred in both directions: women sometimes breastfed young animals, and animals were used to suckle babies and children. Human to animal breastfeeding has been practiced in some different cultures during various time periods. A Cuban woman using a goat to suckle a baby, 1903
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