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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny glade far in the of Peru jungle when he detected sounds drawing near through the dense forest.

He became aware that he had been encircled, and froze.

“One stood, directing with an arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he became aware of my presence and I began to run.”

He had come confronting members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—who lives in the small community of Nueva Oceania—served as virtually a local to these itinerant individuals, who shun engagement with foreigners.

A recent report by a human rights organization states remain no fewer than 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” remaining in the world. The Mashco Piro is thought to be the most numerous. It says a significant portion of these communities could be eliminated in the next decade if governments don't do further to protect them.

The report asserts the greatest threats stem from timber harvesting, extraction or operations for oil. Uncontacted groups are highly susceptible to ordinary illness—as such, the study says a risk is presented by exposure with religious missionaries and social media influencers looking for attention.

Recently, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, based on accounts from locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing village of seven or eight clans, sitting high on the shores of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the of Peru jungle, 10 hours from the closest village by boat.

The territory is not designated as a protected area for isolated tribes, and logging companies function here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the noise of industrial tools can be heard continuously, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their forest disturbed and ruined.

Within the village, residents report they are torn. They fear the projectiles but they hold profound regard for their “kin” dwelling in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Let them live in their own way, we can't change their traditions. For this reason we maintain our separation,” states Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the tribe's survival, the threat of aggression and the likelihood that timber workers might introduce the Mashco Piro to diseases they have no immunity to.

At the time in the settlement, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler child, was in the woodland picking fruit when she heard them.

“There were calls, cries from others, many of them. As if it was a crowd shouting,” she shared with us.

That was the initial occasion she had come across the group and she ran. An hour later, her mind was persistently pounding from anxiety.

“As exist deforestation crews and companies destroying the forest they're running away, maybe due to terror and they come close to us,” she said. “We are uncertain how they will behave to us. That's what scares me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were attacked by the Mashco Piro while catching fish. One man was wounded by an projectile to the gut. He survived, but the other person was located dead subsequently with nine arrow wounds in his physique.

The administration has a strategy of non-contact with isolated people, establishing it as prohibited to commence interactions with them.

This approach was first adopted in the neighboring country subsequent to prolonged of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who observed that initial interaction with isolated people could lead to whole populations being decimated by sickness, destitution and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their community succumbed within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe suffered the same fate.

“Remote tribes are extremely susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure may spread diseases, and including the most common illnesses may decimate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any contact or interference can be highly damaging to their existence and survival as a group.”

For local residents of {