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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small glade deep in the of Peru jungle when he noticed footsteps drawing near through the thick jungle.

He became aware that he stood encircled, and halted.

“A single individual positioned, pointing with an projectile,” he recalls. “And somehow he became aware that I was present and I began to run.”

He found himself face to face members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the modest village of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbor to these wandering individuals, who reject interaction with outsiders.

A recent document from a rights organization claims remain a minimum of 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” left globally. The group is thought to be the biggest. The study states 50% of these groups might be wiped out in the next decade if governments fail to take more actions to defend them.

The report asserts the biggest risks are from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for crude. Uncontacted groups are highly at risk to basic sickness—consequently, the report notes a threat is caused by contact with proselytizers and online personalities seeking engagement.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, as reported by locals.

The village is a fishing village of a handful of households, sitting atop on the edges of the Tauhamanu River deep within the Peruvian jungle, a ten-hour journey from the closest village by canoe.

This region is not classified as a preserved zone for uncontacted groups, and logging companies function here.

According to Tomas that, on occasion, the racket of logging machinery can be detected around the clock, and the community are seeing their jungle disrupted and ruined.

Among the locals, people state they are torn. They dread the tribal weapons but they also possess deep respect for their “kin” who live in the forest and want to protect them.

“Allow them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to modify their way of life. For this reason we preserve our distance,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the tribe's survival, the risk of conflict and the chance that deforestation crews might expose the community to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

At the time in the village, the tribe appeared again. Letitia, a young mother with a two-year-old daughter, was in the forest picking produce when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, cries from people, numerous of them. As though there were a whole group shouting,” she shared with us.

It was the first instance she had met the tribe and she escaped. Subsequently, her thoughts was persistently pounding from anxiety.

“Because exist timber workers and companies cutting down the jungle they are fleeing, maybe out of fear and they arrive in proximity to us,” she stated. “We don't know how they might react towards us. That's what scares me.”

In 2022, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the group while fishing. One was hit by an projectile to the abdomen. He survived, but the other man was discovered deceased days later with multiple arrow wounds in his frame.

Authorities in Peru maintains a approach of no engagement with isolated people, rendering it prohibited to initiate interactions with them.

The strategy originated in Brazil subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by community representatives, who saw that early interaction with isolated people could lead to entire groups being decimated by disease, hardship and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country made initial contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their community perished within a short period. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—from a disease perspective, any interaction might introduce sicknesses, and including the simplest ones could decimate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any exposure or intrusion can be extremely detrimental to their life and survival as a society.”

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