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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small glade deep in the of Peru jungle when he detected movements drawing near through the dense forest.

He realized that he had been encircled, and froze.

“A single individual positioned, directing with an projectile,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he became aware that I was present and I began to flee.”

He found himself confronting the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—dwelling in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a local to these wandering tribe, who reject engagement with outsiders.

A new report from a rights group states there are at least 196 described as “isolated tribes” in existence worldwide. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the biggest. The report states a significant portion of these communities could be eliminated in the next decade unless authorities neglect to implement more actions to defend them.

It claims the most significant dangers stem from deforestation, digging or drilling for crude. Remote communities are extremely vulnerable to basic disease—as such, the report says a threat is posed by interaction with religious missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of clicks.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been appearing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, according to locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's village of a handful of clans, located high on the shores of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru jungle, a ten-hour journey from the nearest town by canoe.

The territory is not recognised as a preserved area for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of heavy equipment can be noticed day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest disturbed and devastated.

Among the locals, people state they are conflicted. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they hold deep regard for their “brothers” dwelling in the jungle and wish to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we must not alter their culture. For this reason we keep our space,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the harm to the community's way of life, the danger of violence and the possibility that loggers might expose the tribe to diseases they have no defense to.

At the time in the settlement, the Mashco Piro made their presence felt again. Letitia, a woman with a young child, was in the forest picking food when she heard them.

“We heard calls, shouts from people, numerous of them. As if it was a large gathering calling out,” she informed us.

It was the first time she had come across the tribe and she fled. Subsequently, her mind was continually racing from terror.

“Since operate loggers and operations clearing the jungle they are fleeing, possibly out of fear and they arrive in proximity to us,” she explained. “It is unclear how they might react towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

In 2022, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the tribe while catching fish. A single person was wounded by an arrow to the abdomen. He recovered, but the second individual was discovered deceased after several days with nine injuries in his body.

The administration follows a strategy of no engagement with secluded communities, establishing it as forbidden to commence interactions with them.

This approach began in the neighboring country following many years of campaigning by indigenous rights groups, who observed that first exposure with isolated people could lead to whole populations being decimated by illness, poverty and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the world outside, half of their population died within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua community suffered the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are extremely susceptible—in terms of health, any exposure might spread illnesses, and even the simplest ones might wipe them out,” explains an advocate from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or interference can be very harmful to their life and survival as a community.”

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