Meet 'Real-life tarzan' who spent 41 years in the jungle, didn't know 'women even existed or what sex was'

Real-life Tarzan, Ho Van Lang who lived in the jungle with his father for over 40 years had no idea women existed or what sex was. Ho Van Lang, now 49, spent 41 years in complete isolation in the deep forest of the Tay Tra district in Quang Ngai province, after fleeing the Vietnam war with his father and brother.

His father Ho Van Thanh fled civilisation with his sons after a US bomb killed his wife and two of his other children during the Vietnam War in 1972, as reported by The Sun.

The trio lived entirely off the wilderness, eating honey, fruit, and forest creatures, building shelters, and fending for themselves. But in 2013 the trio was 'rescued' from their isolated life and brought to a local village where women also live. There, they have slowly been adapting to civilisation. They now live in a house near the jungle.

In 2015, Alvaro Cerezo, managing director of Docastaway, which offers holidays to remote, uninhabited parts of the world, met the family and said, "They always escaped when they saw people from a distance. As Lang's father had a profound phobia of returning [to civilisation] as he did not believe that the Vietnam War was over."

He added, "More surprising still is that today, despite being able to distinguish between men and women, he still doesn’t know the essential difference between them. I can confirm that Lang has never had the minimum sexual desire and his reproductive instinct has never shown its head in any of its many facets." 

Apparently, Ho Van Lang's dad never told them about sexuality. Alvaro Cerezo also said, "While I was with him in the jungle, I saw him eat bats as though they were olives. He used the heads and viscera of the rats."

From materials they found in the forest, the trio always kept fire lit and made tools, cutlery, and cooking utensils. Life was going well for Lang until his dad's health began to deteriorate.

Adding to this, Cerezo said, "Due to his father's poor mental state Lang lived the last few years full of stress and anxiety, staying awake all night long in case his father should fall into the nothingness."

Cerezo said, "His sense of humour is like that of a baby, copying facial gestures or reacting to hide and seek and this contributes to making Lang a very endearing person."

Lang doesn’t understand many basic social concepts as he has spent his whole life in the jungle. "If I asked Lang to beat someone, he would do it severely. He doesn’t know the difference between good and bad. Lang is just a child. He doesn’t know anything," Cerezo said.