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Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest open space within in the Peruvian jungle when he heard footsteps drawing near through the thick woodland.

He became aware that he stood surrounded, and stood still.

“One positioned, pointing using an projectile,” he states. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I started to flee.”

He found himself encountering the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a neighbour to these nomadic individuals, who reject contact with outsiders.

An updated study issued by a human rights group indicates exist no fewer than 196 termed “isolated tribes” in existence worldwide. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the most numerous. The report claims 50% of these communities may be decimated in the next decade should administrations fail to take more to protect them.

It claims the biggest dangers come from timber harvesting, digging or operations for oil. Isolated tribes are extremely at risk to basic sickness—consequently, it notes a risk is caused by contact with religious missionaries and digital content creators looking for attention.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been coming to Nueva Oceania more and more, as reported by residents.

The village is a fishermen's village of several clans, sitting elevated on the shores of the local river in the center of the Peruvian Amazon, half a day from the nearest settlement by watercraft.

The territory is not designated as a safeguarded area for remote communities, and timber firms operate here.

According to Tomas that, on occasion, the sound of heavy equipment can be heard day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their woodland disturbed and devastated.

Among the locals, people say they are conflicted. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they also possess strong admiration for their “brothers” who live in the jungle and wish to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we are unable to alter their culture. This is why we preserve our distance,” states Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the destruction to the community's way of life, the risk of conflict and the chance that loggers might introduce the community to diseases they have no immunity to.

At the time in the community, the group made themselves known again. Letitia, a young mother with a two-year-old child, was in the jungle collecting fruit when she heard them.

“We heard calls, shouts from others, numerous of them. As if there was a large gathering shouting,” she informed us.

That was the initial occasion she had come across the group and she fled. Subsequently, her head was persistently throbbing from terror.

“Because exist deforestation crews and companies clearing the forest they are fleeing, maybe because of dread and they end up in proximity to us,” she said. “We are uncertain how they will behave to us. This is what frightens me.”

Two years ago, two loggers were confronted by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One man was hit by an projectile to the stomach. He survived, but the other man was found lifeless subsequently with several arrow wounds in his frame.

The administration has a strategy of avoiding interaction with secluded communities, making it forbidden to start interactions with them.

The policy originated in the neighboring country after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that early exposure with secluded communities could lead to entire groups being decimated by sickness, hardship and malnutrition.

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

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—epidemiologically, any contact may spread diseases, and even the basic infections may decimate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or interference can be very harmful to their existence and survival as a society.”

For local residents of {