UK Expedition Into Paraguay's Dry Chaco Ends - Fears Outside Diseases Would Sicken Uncontacted Tribe

[hatrack]

London's Natural History Museum has suspended a planned expedition to a remote region of Paraguay after protests that it might disturb one of the world's last uncontacted tribes. Campaigners had warned that the expedition to the Chaco region was likely to encounter the Ayoreo people.

Contact might expose them to infectious diseases that could wipe them out. The 100-strong expedition was due to set off in the next few days in search of new species of plants and insects. The Natural History Museum said the trip would now be delayed while its partners, the Paraguayan environment ministry, consulted further with indigenous representatives.

It said it took concerns about uncontacted tribes extremely seriously. The museum added that the expedition to record the rich biodiversity of the Dry Chaco region was important to the future management of the fragile ecosystem.

The trip is one of the largest the museum has organised in many years. The Chaco, a semi-arid lowland area of forest and thorn scrub that stretches into Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, is one of the last great wildernesses of South America.

EDIT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11762531

[BrklynLiberal]

1. duh. WTF made them even consider going there in first place?

I remember reading stories of Native Hawaiians dying from diseases Europeans introduced to which they had no immunity, never having been exposed to them......and of Native American Indians dying from the smallpox that Europeans introduced.

On might have hoped that people in the position of leadership of a NATURAL HISTORY Museum would have thought it out more carefully.