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Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny open space far in the of Peru Amazon when he noticed sounds coming closer through the dense jungle.

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

“A single individual positioned, pointing with an bow and arrow,” he states. “Somehow he became aware I was here and I began to run.”

He had come encountering members of the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—who lives in the small community of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a neighbour to these wandering tribe, who reject engagement with foreigners.

An updated study issued by a advocacy organization states exist no fewer than 196 termed “uncontacted groups” remaining globally. This tribe is believed to be the most numerous. It says a significant portion of these groups may be decimated over the coming ten years if governments don't do more to protect them.

The report asserts the greatest risks come from logging, extraction or drilling for petroleum. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally at risk to ordinary illness—therefore, the report states a threat is posed by contact with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers seeking clicks.

Lately, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, as reported by locals.

This settlement is a fishing village of several clans, perched high on the shores of the local river in the heart of the of Peru Amazon, 10 hours from the closest settlement by boat.

The territory is not designated as a protected area for uncontacted groups, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the racket of logging machinery can be detected continuously, and the community are observing their jungle disturbed and ruined.

Among the locals, inhabitants say they are conflicted. They dread the projectiles but they hold profound admiration for their “kin” residing in the jungle and wish to defend them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we can't modify their way of life. This is why we preserve our space,” says Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the damage to the tribe's survival, the threat of violence and the likelihood that timber workers might introduce the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the tribe made their presence felt again. A young mother, a resident with a toddler child, was in the forest gathering produce when she noticed them.

“We heard cries, shouts from people, a large number of them. As if there was a large gathering calling out,” she told us.

This marked the initial occasion she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she fled. Subsequently, her head was continually pounding from anxiety.

“Since exist timber workers and firms destroying the woodland they're running away, maybe because of dread and they arrive close to us,” she said. “We don't know what their response may be with us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were assaulted by the Mashco Piro while catching fish. One man was hit by an bow to the stomach. He recovered, but the second individual was located deceased days later with multiple injuries in his frame.

Authorities in Peru has a strategy of no engagement with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The policy was first adopted in a nearby nation subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by community representatives, who observed that initial interaction with remote tribes lead to entire groups being eliminated by illness, poverty and hunger.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in the country first encountered with the broader society, half of their community succumbed within a short period. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly vulnerable—from a disease perspective, any exposure may introduce sicknesses, and including the basic infections might eliminate them,” says a representative from a local advocacy organization. “In cultural terms, any contact or interference could be extremely detrimental to their way of life and well-being as a group.”

For those living nearby of {