A joint expedition by the Natural History Museum (NHM), London and the Natural History Museum, Asuncion to study the biodiversity of the dwindling dry forests of Chaco in Paraguay have responded to recent concerns that they risk encountering uncontacted natives, which could potentially threaten the natives' lives as well as their own. "We've sought a lot of local advice from our partners in Paraguay to minimize the risk of any inappropriate contact," a representative from the Press Office at NHM wrote mongabay.com, pointing to the fact that the month-long expedition will include both contacted members of
"We have been assured by leaders of the Ayoreo people, through the Union Navitas Ayoreos del Paraguay (UNAP), that not only will some of their people join our expedition, but one of these with be an elder. This individual will not only help our staff by sharing their knowledge but will also go ahead when we are in the field to ensure there is no inappropriate contact," the Press Office stated.
The debate started when local indigenous group, Iniciativa Amotocodie (IA), sent an open letter to the museum to call off the expedition in the light of possible "genocide" if the scientists encounter indigenous groups that had chosen to remain uncontacted.
"If this expedition goes ahead we will not be able to understand why you prefer to lose human lives just because the English scientists want to study plants and animals - the letter reads in part - There is too much risk: the people die in the forest frequently from catching white people's diseases, they get infected by being close."
Such statements are not hyperbolic: contacts, even unintended ones, have ended tragically time-and-again in the past. Uncontacted indigenous groups are extremely susceptible to western diseases as they do not have natural resistance to them. When contact does occur upwards of 50-90% of indigenous people have been known to perish.
But the expedition isn't just risky for indigenous groups. Jonathan Mowzer, Director of Advocacy with indigenous-rights organization, Survival International, has told media outlets that such contact could also end in violence. The Ayoreo have responded to past run-ins with spears and it is possible they could attack expedition members.
Despite, such concerns the expedition, with its over 60 members, is going full-steam ahead, in the hope to find new species of plants, insects, amphibian, reptiles, and, if very fortunate, even birds and mammals, in an area that is rapidly vanishing from intensive agriculture, widespread logging, and cattle ranching.
The Chaco has been little surveyed by scientists compared to its more well-known and far rainier cousin, the Amazon. However, researchers know the Chaco is home to several threatened mammals, including the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), both of which are classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, and the Chacoan peccary considered Endangered. The area is also home to the America's largest cat, the jaguar.
Sixty years ago, the population of Ayoreo living in the Chaco was around 5,000, but the majority of these were forced out of the forest by cattle ranchers and missionaries.