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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest clearing deep in the of Peru jungle when he heard sounds coming closer through the dense woodland.

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

“A single individual positioned, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Unexpectedly he became aware that I was present and I commenced to escape.”

He had come encountering the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—who lives in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a neighbour to these wandering tribe, who reject engagement with outsiders.

A new document by a rights organization claims exist no fewer than 196 termed “uncontacted groups” left in the world. The group is believed to be the largest. The study states 50% of these communities could be decimated over the coming ten years should administrations fail to take additional measures to safeguard them.

It argues the greatest risks stem from logging, mining or operations for crude. Remote communities are exceptionally vulnerable to common illness—as such, the report says a danger is caused by exposure with religious missionaries and social media influencers looking for clicks.

Lately, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, as reported by inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishing village of several clans, perched elevated on the shores of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru jungle, a ten-hour journey from the most accessible settlement by boat.

This region is not recognised as a preserved zone for uncontacted groups, and timber firms work here.

Tomas says that, at times, the racket of logging machinery can be detected day and night, and the community are seeing their woodland disrupted and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants state they are torn. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they hold profound respect for their “brothers” dwelling in the jungle and want to safeguard them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we are unable to modify their way of life. For this reason we keep our space,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the tribe's survival, the danger of conflict and the likelihood that deforestation crews might introduce the tribe to illnesses they have no resistance to.

While we were in the village, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. A young mother, a young mother with a toddler girl, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she detected them.

“We detected shouting, sounds from people, many of them. As if it was a whole group yelling,” she informed us.

That was the first instance she had come across the tribe and she escaped. Subsequently, her head was continually racing from anxiety.

“Since operate loggers and companies cutting down the woodland they are fleeing, possibly because of dread and they arrive near us,” she explained. “We are uncertain how they might react with us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

In 2022, two loggers were attacked by the group while catching fish. One man was wounded by an bow to the stomach. He survived, but the other man was found lifeless subsequently with nine injuries in his body.

The administration has a approach of non-contact with isolated people, making it illegal to commence encounters with them.

The policy began in a nearby nation after decades of campaigning by indigenous rights groups, who noted that early exposure with secluded communities lead to whole populations being wiped out by disease, destitution and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru first encountered with the broader society, 50% of their people perished within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua tribe faced the same fate.

“Secluded communities are highly susceptible—in terms of health, any exposure might spread diseases, and even the most common illnesses may decimate them,” states Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or intrusion could be very harmful to their life and survival as a community.”

For local residents of {