In the 1960s, a Burmese research expedition found over 50 pure-blood pygmies, and although cases of cretinism, mental retardation, goiter, and other physical and mental ailments were noted, they felt as though the community would sustain itself.
Dr. Alan Rabinowitz visited their village to learn about the Taron pygmies in the late 1990s, and discovered the fate of the tribe.