A haunting image shows the mysterious last surviving member of the Amazon tribe, who has died after years of living alone in the jungle

A haunting photo shows the last surviving member of an Amazon tribe who died after years of living alone in the jungle.

The mysterious loner, the only inhabitant of the Tanaru indigenous territory in Brazil, was found dead in a hammock.

2

2

The native, believed to be around 60 years old, was known as “The Man of the Hole” because of his habit of digging holes in the ground and hiding in them.

He was the sole survivor of an uncontacted tribe whose six other members were killed by land raiders and farmers.

He had chosen to lead a solitary life in the jungle and refused any attempt to contact them.

He is said to have set traps and shot arrows at anyone who got too close.

Sarah Shenker, an activist with Survival International, told the Guardian: “Having endured horrific massacres and land invasions, declining contact with outsiders was his best bet for survival.

“He was the last of his tribe and that’s another tribe that went extinct – not disappeared like some people say, it’s a much more active and genocidal process than disappearance.”

In 2018, he was accidentally filmed by a government team.

Survival’s Research and Advocacy Director Fiona Watson, Survival’s Research and Advocacy Director, visited the area with a government monitoring team in 2004 and wrote a summary of the visit.

She said: “Imagine living alone, in total silence, always on the run, always afraid, invisible to the world.

“This is the everyday life of a lonely man in the Amazon. He is the sole survivor of his tribe.

“We don’t know who he is, what his tribe is called, or what language he speaks.

“His people were probably massacred by ranchers who are invading the region at breakneck speed.”

Activists and indigenous organizations have been working to protect his country for years.

The uncontacted tribes live in extreme isolation in the forest and often shoot at helicopters or planes with bows and arrows because they fear contact with outsiders.

Experts estimate that at least 100 uncontacted tribes live in Brazil.

Other uncontacted tribes groups also exist in Colombia, Peru and Paraguay.