Former bargeman Viktor, 57, who refused to give his family name, reads the Bible while wearing a hat he made for this purpose, outside his wooden hut located in a forest some 55 km (34 miles) south of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, October 17, 2013. A decade ago, Viktor decided to lead the life of a hermit, and settled in this secluded forest area hidden from civilisation. He reads the Bible, and survives mainly on fish, berries, mushrooms and other food he can find. Picture taken October 17, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Former bargeman Viktor, 57, who refused to give his family name, looks out of a window of his wooden hut located in a forest some 55 km (34 miles) south of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, October 17, 2013. A decade ago, Viktor decided to lead the life of a hermit, and settled in this secluded forest area hidden from civilisation. He reads the Bible, and survives mainly on fish, berries, mushrooms and other food he can find. Picture taken October 17, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Artist and poet Barry Edgar Pilcher, age 69, poses for a photograph as he plays the saxaphone on the Island of Inishfree in County Donegal May 1, 2012. Pilcher is the only inhabitant of the island on which he has lived for the past 20 years. He only leaves the island once a week to collect his pension and buy groceries on the mainland. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton (IRELAND - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY)

Artist and poet Barry Edgar Pilcher sits in his cottage on the Island of Inishfree in County Donegal May 1, 2012. Pilcher, 69, is the only inhabitant of the island on which he has lived for the past 20 years. He only leaves the island once every week for a couple of hours to collect his pension and buy groceries on the mainland. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton (IRELAND)

Artist and poet Barry Edgar Pilcher leaves his cottage on the Island of Inishfree in County Donegal to play his saxaphone on the beach. May 1, 2012. Pilcher, 69, is the only inhabitant of the island on which he has lived for the past 20 years. He only leaves the island once every week for a couple of hours to collect his pension and buy groceries on the mainland. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton (IRELAND - Tags: SOCIETY)

The kitchen of artist and poet Barry Edgar Pilcher is seen in his cottage on the Island of Inishfree in County Donegal May 1, 2012. Pilcher is the only inhabitant of the island on which he has lived for the past 20 years. Pilcher only leaves the island once a week to collect his pension and buy groceries on the mainland. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton (IRELAND - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY)

Seventy-six-year-old naked hermit Masafumi Nagasaki speaks on Sotobanari island, off western coast of Iriomote island, Okinawa prefecture, April 14, 2012. Dangerous currents swirl around Sotobanari island, which has not a drop of natural water, and local fisherman rarely land there. But Nagasaki has made this kidney-shaped island in Japan's tropical Okinawa prefecture his retirement home, with an unusual dress code: nothing at all. REUTERS/Yuya Shino (JAPAN - Tags: SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)

Seventy-six-year-old naked hermit Masafumi Nagasaki sits at table made from polystyrene box as he eats a food on Sotobanari island, off western coast of Iriomote island, Okinawa prefecture, April 14, 2012. Dangerous currents swirl around Sotobanari island, which has not a drop of natural water, and local fisherman rarely land there. But Nagasaki has made this kidney-shaped island in Japan's tropical Okinawa prefecture his retirement home, with an unusual dress code: nothing at all. REUTERS/Yuya Shino (JAPAN - Tags: SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)

Seventy-six-year-old naked hermit Masafumi Nagasaki washes untensils on the beach on Sotobanari island, off western coast of Iriomote island, Okinawa prefecture, April 14, 2012. Dangerous currents swirl around Sotobanari island, which has not a drop of natural water, and local fisherman rarely land there. But Nagasaki has made this kidney-shaped island in Japan's tropical Okinawa prefecture his retirement home, with an unusual dress code: nothing at all. REUTERS/Yuya Shino (JAPAN - Tags: SOCIETY)

Sostis, a 60 year-old former sailor and the only human inhabitant of the volcanic islet of Palaia Kameni located in the caldera of Santorini, enters the Saint Nicolas church March 17, 2012. Initial data shows pre-bookings for the high summer season from Germany, which accounts for about 14 percent of Greece's total number of visitors, are down 20-30 percent. The drop in pre-bookings from Britain, Italy and the United States is expected to be smaller but still in the double-digit range. Greece's economy is in recession for a fifth consecutive year and is seen contracting by 4.3 percent this year as the government imposes austerity measures in exchange for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: TRAVEL SOCIETY)

A structure used as a toilet by Sostis, a 60 year-old former sailor and the only human inhabitant of the volcanic islet of Palaia Kameni located in the caldera of Santorini, is seen March 17, 2012. Initial data shows pre-bookings for the high summer season from Germany, which accounts for about 14 percent of Greece's total number of visitors, are down 20-30 percent. The drop in pre-bookings from Britain, Italy and the United States is expected to be smaller but still in the double-digit range. Greece's economy is in recession for a fifth consecutive year and is seen contracting by 4.3 percent this year as the government imposes austerity measures in exchange for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: TRAVEL SOCIETY)

Sostis, a 60 year-old former sailor and the only human inhabitant of the volcanic islet of Palaia Kameni located in the caldera of Santorini, makes cofee in his 10 sqm house March 17, 2012. Initial data shows pre-bookings for the high summer season from Germany, which accounts for about 14 percent of Greece's total number of visitors, are down 20-30 percent. The drop in pre-bookings from Britain, Italy and the United States is expected to be smaller but still in the double-digit range. Greece's economy is in recession for a fifth consecutive year and is seen contracting by 4.3 percent this year as the government imposes austerity measures in exchange for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: TRAVEL SOCIETY)

Sostis, a 60 year-old former sailor and the only human inhabitant of the volcanic islet of Palaia Kameni (seen in the background), steers his fishing boat through the caldera of Santorini March 17, 2012. Initial data shows pre-bookings for the high summer season from Germany, which accounts for about 14 percent of Greece's total number of visitors, are down 20-30 percent. The drop in pre-bookings from Britain, Italy and the United States is expected to be smaller but still in the double-digit range. Greece's economy is in recession for a fifth consecutive year and is seen contracting by 4.3 percent this year as the government imposes austerity measures in exchange for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE - Tags: TRAVEL SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

A German man from Hamburg, who identifies himself only as Yiorgos, carries hay for his sheep in his home in the village of Skafi some 500 kms north of Athens, September 27, 2011. Skafi once had a population of about 45 families but today it is populated by Yiorgos alone in the winter and about a dozen elderly Greeks who come in the summer. Greece's population has shrunk by more than 1 percent over the last 10 years, according to a census carried out earlier this year, thereby bucking the trend of the last few decades. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion on 31 October, according to official U.N. population projections, presenting what the United Nations Population Fund called both a challenge and an opportunity. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE)

A German man from Hamburg, who identifies himself only as Yiorgos, watches television in the village of Skafi some 500 kms north of Athens, September 27, 2011. Skafi once had a population of about 45 families but today it is populated by Yiorgos alone in the winter and about a dozen elderly Greeks who come in the summer. Greece's population has shrunk by more than 1 percent over the last 10 years, according to a census carried out earlier this year, thereby bucking the trend of the last few decades. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion on 31 October, according to official U.N. population projections, presenting what the United Nations Population Fund called both a challenge and an opportunity. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE)

A German man from Hamburg, who identifies himself only as Yiorgos, combs his hair in the village of Skafi some 500 kms north of Athens, September 27, 2011. Skafi once had a population of about 45 families but today it is populated by Yiorgos alone in the winter and about a dozen elderly Greeks who come in the summer. Greece's population has shrunk by more than 1 percent over the last 10 years, according to a census carried out earlier this year, thereby bucking the trend of the last few decades. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion on 31 October, according to official U.N. population projections, presenting what the United Nations Population Fund called both a challenge and an opportunity. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE)

A German man from Hamburg, who identifies himself only as Yiorgos, smokes a cigarette in his home in the village of Skafi some 500 kms north of Athens, September 27, 2011. Skafi once had a population of about 45 families but today it is populated by Yiorgos alone in the winter and about a dozen elderly Greeks who come in the summer. Greece's population has shrunk by more than 1 percent over the last 10 years, according to a census carried out earlier this year, thereby bucking the trend of the last few decades. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion on 31 October, according to official U.N. population projections, presenting what the United Nations Population Fund called both a challenge and an opportunity. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE)

A German man from Hamburg, who identifies himself only as Yiorgos, walks through the village of Skafi some 500 kms north of Athens, September 27, 2011. Skafi once had a population of about 45 families but today it is populated by Yiorgos alone in the winter and about a dozen elderly Greeks who come in the summer. Greece's population has shrunk by more than 1 percent over the last 10 years, according to a census carried out earlier this year, thereby bucking the trend of the last few decades. The world's population is projected to reach 7 billion on 31 October, according to official U.N. population projections, presenting what the United Nations Population Fund called both a challenge and an opportunity. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (GREECE)

Augusta Guerreiro, 72, walks with a pitchfork on the hills surrounding her house in Alentejo, southern Portugal February 10, 2009. Guerreiro is one of the last inhabitants of the increasingly deserted and remote area of Luzianes in Alentejo. Besides tending to household chores, the woman, who has been working in the region for the past 53 years, bakes her own bread, uses a rustic fireplace to cook and works in the fields 365 days a year. In an age when young people leave the rural areas and International Women's Day is celebrated every March 8, Guerreiro still keeps the same habits of decades ago. Picture taken February 10, 2009. REUTERS/Nacho Doce (PORTUGAL)

Semyon, aged 6, looks at his father, Valentin Panin, an 83-year-old blind man, who sits on a bed of their wooden house in the Taiga wood on a bank of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Semyon Panin, aged 6, looks through a window of his wooden house in the Taiga wood on a bank of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Children remove ice near their wooden house in the Taiga wood on a banks of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Semyon Panin, aged 6, helps his mother to carry linen near their wooden house in the Taiga wood on a banks of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Timofey Panin, aged 12, puts firewood into the furnace, while his brother Semyon, aged 6, looks on, in their wooden house in the Taiga wood on a bank of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Ekaterina Panina sits in her wooden house in the Taiga wood on a banks of the Mana river, about 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 11, 2011. Valentin Panin, 83, and his wife Ekaterina, 35, got married in 1993 and began to lead a hermit way of life. The couple, who have four children now, with Valentin assisting the delivery himself, live in the wood separately from people and are occupied mostly with farming and poultry breeding. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: SOCIETY ODDLY)

Ricky Eaton, 16, (L) Jerry Sarro, 17, and staff member David Dersham (R) meditate during morning yoga in Penikese Island, Massachusetts, June 29, 2005. Penikese Island is a small school for boys between the ages of 15-18 who are in need of special services and have in some manner got into trouble with the law. Enrolment is limited to nine boys who live, work, and attend school on the island. The boys and staff are the island's only inhabitants. Picture taken June 29, 2005. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi Pictures of the Month July 2005 JR/KS

Jeremy Scholten, 17, looks up at the ceiling during class in the one room school house in Penikese Island, Massachusetts, June 28, 2005. Penikese Island is a small school for boys between the ages of 15-18 who are in need of special services and have in some manner got into trouble with the law. Enrolment is limited to nine boys who live, work, and attend school on the island. The boys and staff are the islands only inhabitants. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi JR/KS

Students and staff line up for breakfast in Penikese Island, Massachusetts June 29, 2005. Penikese Island is a small school for boys between the ages of 15-18 who are in need of special services and have in some manner got into trouble with the law. Enrolment is limited to nine boys who live, work, and attend school on the island. The boys and staff are the islands only inhabitants. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi JR

Jeremy Scholten, 17, reads by the light of a kerosene lantern during study hour in Penikese Island, Massachusetts June 28, 2005. There is no electricity on Penikese Island, a small school for boys between the ages of 15-18 who are in need of special services and have in some manner got into trouble with the law. Enrolment is limited to nine boys who live, work, and attend school on the island. The boys and staff are the islands only inhabitants. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi JR

An elderly Bulgarian woman weaves in her house in the village of
Kovatchevica on May 30, 2003. Several dozens, mainly elderly
Bulgarians, are the only inhabitants in many highmountain villages,
such as Kovatchevica, in Bulgaria's southern Rhodopi Mountains.
Declining birth rate, rising mortality rate and high unemployment over
the past decade have led to deserting of many villages in the European
Union aspiring country. Statistics data showed that some 1,500 villages
in the country of eight million have less than 100 mainly elderly
residents, of which some 500 villages have less than 10 residents.
REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

SN/AA

Father Youseb Heshmat sits in the cave church of the Holy Virgin and St. Colta in Der Abu Hinnis, January 26, 2007. The church of the Holy Virgin and St. Colta was carved out of the rock in the 4th Century for monks and hermits, and is still in use today by the local population. REUTERS/Tara Todras-Whitehill (EGYPT)

Father Dario Escobar, a Colombian hermit, stands outside his cave cell on the route of a 400-km (250-mile) hiking trail in the Qadisha Gorge north of Lebanon Mountain Trail for hikers, April 26, 2007. Escobar, 72, has lived in Lebanon for 18 years, the last seven of them as a hermit. Picture taken April 26, 2007. To match feature LEBANON-TRAIL/ REUTERS/Alistair Lyon (LEBANON)

Ilija Panincic, believed to be in his 50's, sits on a bed in his humble home at a remote hill in Sipovo area February 27, 2002. Panincic, former shepard who lost much of his ability to communicate, was discovered by walkers and only heard that the war in Balkans ended six years after it had actually ended. The hermit lived isolated from civilisation for years, survived on berries and what the woodlands would provide, shares the remote valley with a visiting brown bear that regularly scratches at his door. [British troops, operating under the NATO led Stabilisation Force, now make regular trips to ensure Ilija's continued survival.]