Wildenmannlisloch

Wildenmannlisloch is an Alpine limestone karst cave in the municipality of Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann, in the Toggenburg region of the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland, on the northern slope of the Churfirsten range peak, at an elevation of a.s.l.

Description

The cave extends for, forming a chamber at about from the entrance.
The cave's name is recorded in 1819 a booklet on "Zwingli's birthplace" by J. Fr. Franz: "At the foot of Selun ridge there is a great cave, known as the Wildenmannlisloch, which at first is very broad and high, so that it could by entered by horse and wagon, then becomes narrower, and again wider, and in such alternation continues along various bends for a quarter of an hour before its end is reached."
An examination of 15 July 1906 yielded bones of cave bears. A more detailed survey was conducted during 1923 to 1928, published in Bächler, producing a large number of bones, mostly of bears, besides a smaller number of stone tools comparable to the Wildkirchli finds. The bones seem to have been artificially deposited in heaps. The cave was presumably in use by prehistoric man during the Mousterian.
Johannes Seluner, a feral child found in 1844, presumably lived in the cave during a number of years.