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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest open space far in the of Peru rainforest when he noticed movements coming closer through the thick forest.

It dawned on him he was hemmed in, and froze.

“A single individual stood, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he became aware that I was present and I began to flee.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—who lives in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as virtually a neighbour to these wandering individuals, who reject contact with strangers.

An updated study from a rights group indicates exist no fewer than 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” left in the world. The group is thought to be the most numerous. It says 50% of these tribes may be decimated within ten years if governments neglect to implement further to protect them.

The report asserts the greatest threats stem from timber harvesting, extraction or exploration for petroleum. Isolated tribes are extremely vulnerable to common disease—therefore, the report says a threat is presented by contact with proselytizers and social media influencers in pursuit of attention.

Lately, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by residents.

This settlement is a fishermen's hamlet of seven or eight families, perched high on the edges of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru Amazon, half a day from the nearest town by canoe.

The area is not classified as a safeguarded area for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of heavy equipment can be detected continuously, and the community are seeing their jungle disrupted and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are conflicted. They are afraid of the projectiles but they also possess strong admiration for their “relatives” residing in the woodland and wish to defend them.

“Let them live in their own way, we must not alter their traditions. For this reason we preserve our space,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of aggression and the chance that timber workers might subject the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

During a visit in the village, the group appeared again. Letitia, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the forest gathering produce when she heard them.

“There were cries, shouts from others, numerous of them. Like there was a whole group calling out,” she informed us.

It was the initial occasion she had met the tribe and she escaped. An hour later, her thoughts was persistently pounding from anxiety.

“Since operate deforestation crews and firms destroying the jungle they're running away, maybe due to terror and they arrive in proximity to us,” she said. “It is unclear how they will behave towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the tribe while angling. One man was wounded by an projectile to the gut. He survived, but the other man was found lifeless after several days with several arrow wounds in his body.

The Peruvian government has a strategy of non-contact with secluded communities, making it prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The strategy originated in the neighboring country after decades of campaigning by community representatives, who saw that initial interaction with remote tribes lead to whole populations being wiped out by illness, destitution and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in the country first encountered with the world outside, 50% of their people perished within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua people experienced the identical outcome.

“Secluded communities are extremely at risk—in terms of health, any contact could spread sicknesses, and including the simplest ones could decimate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “Culturally too, any contact or intrusion could be highly damaging to their life and survival as a society.”

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