Severino had built up a mass of knowledge on where to find water, which nuts to eat and where to find them and how to avoid predators, the BBC's Brazil correspondent Tom Gibb reports.

BBC: Brazil hunts for unique lost bird

Watch England v Brazil live on BBC ONE on Friday 1 June from 1930 BST.

BBC: SPORT | Football | Internationals | Lineker on Beckham and England

Although G8 summits are renowned for fine communiques, the group increasingly suffers from a credibility problem - some of the world's largest economies like China, India and Brazil are not members, says BBC world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan.

BBC: UK assumes presidency of G8 group

But BBC News has learned that at the MEF meeting, Brazil and India took the same position.

BBC: Climate summit opens amid big emitters' stalling tactics

On Thursday, Brazil's Environment Minister Izabella Teixiera told BBC News she was flexible on some elements of the proposed mandate.

BBC: UN climate talks 'approaching decision time'

"We're well known in US and Western Europe, but our profile is not that high in growth economies like Brazil, China and India, " Mr Hamilton told the BBC.

BBC: London 2012: How does Dow Chemical gain from Olympics?

The BBC's Gary Duffy, in Sao Paulo, says that while Brazil is better placed to weather the storm than in previous crises, there are increasing signs of unease about the potential fallout for Latin America's biggest economy.

BBC: Turmoil in Latin American markets

The BBC is taking over as Britain's F1 broadcaster next year, but in Brazil we were still classified as outcasts, denied the accreditation you need to get into the paddock.

BBC: Feeling the tension at Interlagos