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Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a tiny open space within in the Peruvian rainforest when he heard footsteps approaching through the lush woodland.

It dawned on him he was surrounded, and stood still.

“One person positioned, pointing using an arrow,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he detected that I was present and I began to flee.”

He found himself face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the small community of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a neighbour to these itinerant tribe, who shun engagement with foreigners.

A recent document from a rights group states remain at least 196 described as “isolated tribes” left globally. This tribe is thought to be the biggest. The study claims 50% of these groups could be decimated within ten years should administrations don't do additional to protect them.

The report asserts the biggest threats are from logging, digging or operations for petroleum. Isolated tribes are extremely vulnerable to basic sickness—consequently, the study says a threat is caused by exposure with religious missionaries and digital content creators looking for attention.

Lately, members of the tribe have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, based on accounts from inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of households, located atop on the shores of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the closest settlement by boat.

The territory is not classified as a protected area for isolated tribes, and timber firms operate here.

Tomas says that, at times, the sound of logging machinery can be noticed around the clock, and the community are witnessing their jungle disturbed and destroyed.

Within the village, people state they are torn. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they also have strong regard for their “kin” residing in the jungle and desire to protect them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we must not alter their traditions. That's why we maintain our separation,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of aggression and the possibility that timber workers might expose the community to illnesses they have no resistance to.

While we were in the community, the group appeared again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a young daughter, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she detected them.

“We detected cries, sounds from others, a large number of them. As though there were a large gathering calling out,” she told us.

This marked the initial occasion she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she ran. After sixty minutes, her thoughts was still pounding from terror.

“As there are deforestation crews and companies destroying the woodland they are escaping, possibly out of fear and they come in proximity to us,” she said. “We don't know how they will behave with us. This is what terrifies me.”

Recently, two individuals were confronted by the tribe while angling. A single person was wounded by an projectile to the gut. He lived, but the other person was found dead after several days with several arrow wounds in his physique.

The Peruvian government maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, rendering it forbidden to initiate interactions with them.

This approach was first adopted in the neighboring country after decades of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who noted that initial exposure with remote tribes could lead to entire communities being decimated by sickness, poverty and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country made initial contact with the world outside, 50% of their population succumbed within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community suffered the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly vulnerable—from a disease perspective, any exposure may spread illnesses, and even the basic infections might wipe them out,” states an advocate from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any exposure or interference could be extremely detrimental to their life and health as a community.”

For those living nearby of {