On 4 April 2003 the military command post (Kodim 1702) in the central highland town of Wamena was attacked by unknown men. Weapons and ammunition were stolen. Two soldiers and one of the attackers were killed.
'Bushmen' have eaten parts of the hoodia cactus to suppress their hunger and thirst during long hunting trips and journeys in the desert. Now, a US drug company is using the plant to develop what may become a new anti-obesity drug.
At least ten Bushmen from Molapo, in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana, have been charged with entering a game reserve without a permit. Botswana police issued the charges yesterday, June 16. The Bushmen have to appear in court on June 23
President Mogae of Botswana told a protester in the UK this week that the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' who have been forced off their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve will not be allowed to go home.
Peaceful protests are expected to dog President Mogae of Botswana throughout his visit to Britain this week.
The administration in India's Andaman Islands is defying a supreme court order to close a road running through the reserve of the isolated Jarawa tribe. Until the road is closed, the Jarawa are at great risk of catching fatal diseases.
The recently-contacted Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean was given new hope in 2002.
The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians of western Paraguay are the last uncontacted Indians south of the Amazon basin. They now face a real crisis, and Survival considers this one of the most urgent cases in the whole of South America.