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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny glade within in the of Peru jungle when he heard movements approaching through the lush jungle.

He realized that he had been encircled, and froze.

“One person was standing, directing with an projectile,” he remembers. “Somehow he became aware of my presence and I began to run.”

He found himself encountering the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the small village of Nueva Oceania—served as virtually a local to these wandering tribe, who avoid contact with strangers.

An updated report issued by a human rights organisation states there are at least 196 termed “uncontacted groups” in existence in the world. The group is thought to be the biggest. The study claims half of these communities might be eliminated within ten years should administrations fail to take further measures to safeguard them.

It claims the most significant risks stem from logging, extraction or exploration for crude. Isolated tribes are highly vulnerable to ordinary sickness—as such, the report states a risk is posed by exposure with religious missionaries and social media influencers seeking attention.

Recently, Mashco Piro people have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, according to residents.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing community of seven or eight families, perched high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru Amazon, half a day from the nearest town by boat.

This region is not recognised as a safeguarded area for isolated tribes, and timber firms work here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the sound of logging machinery can be detected day and night, and the tribe members are witnessing their jungle disturbed and destroyed.

Among the locals, residents report they are divided. They are afraid of the projectiles but they also have strong respect for their “relatives” residing in the forest and desire to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we must not modify their traditions. For this reason we maintain our space,” states Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the community's way of life, the threat of conflict and the chance that deforestation crews might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

During a visit in the village, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the forest gathering food when she noticed them.

“We heard calls, cries from others, a large number of them. Like there was a whole group yelling,” she shared with us.

That was the first instance she had come across the Mashco Piro and she ran. After sixty minutes, her head was continually racing from fear.

“As operate timber workers and operations cutting down the jungle they are escaping, perhaps because of dread and they come in proximity to us,” she explained. “It is unclear how they might react to us. This is what scares me.”

In 2022, two individuals were confronted by the group while angling. One was hit by an bow to the gut. He recovered, but the other man was located dead subsequently with nine injuries in his physique.

Authorities in Peru follows a policy of no engagement with secluded communities, establishing it as illegal to initiate contact with them.

This approach began in Brazil after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who observed that initial interaction with remote tribes resulted to whole populations being wiped out by disease, poverty and hunger.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in the country made initial contact with the world outside, a significant portion of their people died within a few years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community experienced the same fate.

“Secluded communities are extremely vulnerable—epidemiologically, any exposure may transmit sicknesses, and including the most common illnesses may eliminate them,” explains a representative from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or intrusion can be highly damaging to their existence and health as a community.”

For those living nearby of {