Indian Island Abandoned To Dogs And Pigs

[hatrack]

PORT BLAIR, India - It was once home to a venerated tribal people who were renowned carpenters, but today the Indian island of Chawra is deserted, left only to pigs and dogs howling in the wake of last week's tsunami.

Most of the island's 1,300 people survived but have been evacuated by an Indian navy ship and are not sure if they will ever return to their ancestral homeland in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
"We were terrified, everyone said the island was sinking," said Reginald, who was helping his niece in the rescue ship's sick bay after it anchored in Port Blair, the capital of the island chain. "I don't know if I can go back ever." Forty people were killed when giant waves lashed tiny Chawra, 2.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, on Dec. 26 following an undersea earthquake whose epicentre was located to the south of the Nicobar islands. Fourteen people are listed as missing.

EDIT

The people of Chawra were traditionally looked up to by other Nicobarese and thought to have magical powers. They were known as excellent carpenters and artisans, famous for making good canoes and earthen pots. "They were living next to corpses, they would have all fallen sick," Deepak Dhar, captain of INS Magar, told Reuters. Some of the survivors were so weak that sailors put them in gunny bags and lifted them over the gangway to the ship, he said."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28846/story.htm

[indigobusiness]

1. The pigs will win...

but the dogs will make it interesting.

[el_gato]

4. it's worth watching

I wonder if the dogs will start pack hunting the pigs or if they will not be big enough to kill the adults and maybe some kind of population stabilizatio process will occur.

[Cicero]

7. Ever heard of "hogdogging"?

In a twist I had never heard about until just recently, "hogdogging" takes dog fighting to a different level. It pits trained fighting dogs against wild pigs who've had their tusks removed.

Absolutely gastly. I had never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago when there was a big bust somewhere in the Carolinas. Police confiscated almost a hundred dogs and dozens of pigs. Wish I could give you a link. I swear I thought it was some sick joke until I saw some of the pictures and videos.

Later,

[PaganPreacher]

2. "Dogs and pigs...."

Sounds like a premise to "Animal Farm II."

I wonder who will become "more equal" in that scenario?



Gods, I hope I haven't just given someone an idea for a new "reality show." I'm not ready to see Ron Jeremy, MC Hammer, and Tucker Carlson stranded on a deserted island with 10 "contestants."

The Pagan Preacher
I don't turn the other cheek.

[SariesNightly]

3. This is very sad

I hope they can start a new life somewhere and preserve their wonderful culture.

[indigobusiness]

6. Utterly crushing.

Everything should be done to preserve indigenous culture. So sad.

Reagan's words about bringing the American lifestyle to the third world haunts me. The last thing they need is Americanizing.

Look at Micronesia? Budweiser and A-bomb test payoffs left that culture utterly stripped of its identity and cultural memory.

[xchrom]

5. i think they'll come back.

at least i hope they will.