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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest clearing far in the Peruvian jungle when he noticed sounds coming closer through the dense forest.

He became aware he was surrounded, and halted.

“One stood, directing with an arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he detected of my presence and I started to run.”

He found himself face to face the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the small village of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a neighbour to these wandering tribe, who shun engagement with outsiders.

An updated report from a rights organization states there are at least 196 termed “uncontacted groups” left globally. This tribe is thought to be the most numerous. The report claims a significant portion of these communities might be decimated within ten years if governments fail to take further to protect them.

It argues the greatest risks come from deforestation, extraction or drilling for petroleum. Isolated tribes are highly at risk to basic sickness—therefore, it states a risk is posed by contact with proselytizers and social media influencers seeking attention.

In recent times, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of households, located high on the banks of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the Peruvian rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the closest settlement by watercraft.

The area is not recognised as a protected reserve for uncontacted groups, and logging companies function here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the noise of heavy equipment can be detected day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest disrupted and devastated.

Among the locals, inhabitants state they are divided. They are afraid of the projectiles but they also have deep admiration for their “brothers” dwelling in the forest and want to protect them.

“Permit them to live as they live, we are unable to modify their culture. That's why we preserve our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the community's way of life, the danger of conflict and the likelihood that timber workers might introduce the community to diseases they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the tribe made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a young child, was in the woodland picking produce when she heard them.

“We heard cries, cries from people, many of them. As if it was a large gathering yelling,” she told us.

That was the first instance she had encountered the tribe and she fled. After sixty minutes, her thoughts was continually throbbing from anxiety.

“As exist deforestation crews and companies destroying the forest they are escaping, possibly because of dread and they come in proximity to us,” she explained. “It is unclear what their response may be towards us. That's what frightens me.”

Two years ago, two loggers were confronted by the group while angling. One was struck by an bow to the stomach. He lived, but the other man was found lifeless subsequently with nine injuries in his physique.

Authorities in Peru maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, establishing it as forbidden to commence contact with them.

The strategy was first adopted in the neighboring country following many years of lobbying by community representatives, who noted that early interaction with isolated people resulted to whole populations being wiped out by sickness, poverty and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country made initial contact with the broader society, a significant portion of their people perished within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people experienced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are extremely susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure could introduce diseases, and even the basic infections could eliminate them,” explains a representative from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any contact or disruption can be very harmful to their way of life and survival as a society.”

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