More details come to light of how 'world's loneliest man' survived alone in rainforest for 26 years
Topics: World News
Anish Vij
Featured Image Credit: Funai
Topics: World News
The 'world's loneliest man' managed to survive in the Amazon rainforest for 26 years on his own.
New details of his recent death have emerged which could potentially shed some light on how 'the Man of the Hole' spent his last days.
For those unaware, the unidentified man spent the majority of his time in pits he'd dug in the ground.
However, if animals or humans would get too close he would set up traps to make sure they wouldn't get any closer.
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It is believed he was the only one out of his tribe who survived a series of attacks from farmers between the 1980s and 1995.
The man was said to be around 60 years old when he was found dead in the same place he spent the majority of his island life - in a hammock outside a straw hut.
It seems that he knew that death was right around the corner as he covered himself in macaw feathers, which can mean one of two things.
On the one hand, it suggests he was trying to perhaps cure himself of an illness as the feathers are considered to be 'healing' in some cultures.
On the other hand, he could have just liked feathers and wanted them around him in his final hours.
Indigenous expert Marcelo dos Santos said: "He was waiting for death, there were no signs of violence."
Research director Fiona Watson of London human-rights charity Survival International added: "No outsider knew this man’s name, or even very much about his tribe - and with his death the genocide of his people is complete.
"For this was indeed a genocide – the deliberate wiping out of an entire people by cattle ranchers hungry for land and wealth.
"He symbolised both the appalling violence and cruelty inflicted on Indigenous peoples worldwide in the name of colonisation and profit, but also their resistance.
"One can only imagine what this man was thinking, going through, living on his own, not able to speak to anybody and I think very frightened because any outsider for him represented a threat, given his terrible experience."
Speaking on her visit to the island in 2005, Watson said: "It’s eery walking through the tiny patch of forest where he lives. His presence is everywhere and I can sense him watching our every move."
She added: "Get too near and he will fire an arrow in warning."
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