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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a modest open space deep in the Peruvian jungle when he noticed footsteps approaching through the thick jungle.

He realized that he stood hemmed in, and froze.

“One was standing, directing with an projectile,” he recalls. “Unexpectedly he noticed that I was present and I started to flee.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the small settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as almost a local to these wandering people, who avoid interaction with foreigners.

A new report from a rights organisation states there are no fewer than 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” left in the world. The group is considered to be the largest. It claims 50% of these communities could be wiped out within ten years if governments don't do further to protect them.

The report asserts the most significant dangers come from logging, mining or exploration for oil. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally susceptible to common illness—therefore, the report states a danger is presented by interaction with proselytizers and online personalities seeking clicks.

Recently, members of the tribe have been appearing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, according to locals.

Nueva Oceania is a angling hamlet of seven or eight families, sitting elevated on the edges of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the closest settlement by boat.

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

Tomas reports that, at times, the sound of heavy equipment can be heard continuously, and the Mashco Piro people are seeing their woodland disturbed and destroyed.

Among the locals, people say they are torn. They fear the tribal weapons but they also possess profound admiration for their “relatives” residing in the forest and want to protect them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we can't modify their culture. That's why we preserve our space,” explains Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the harm to the community's way of life, the danger of violence and the likelihood that loggers might expose the community to diseases they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the group appeared again. Letitia, a resident with a young child, was in the woodland collecting food when she noticed them.

“We heard calls, shouts from others, many of them. Like there was a large gathering calling out,” she informed us.

It was the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she fled. An hour later, her mind was still pounding from fear.

“As operate timber workers and companies destroying the jungle they're running away, maybe due to terror and they arrive in proximity to us,” she stated. “It is unclear how they might react towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

In 2022, two individuals were attacked by the group while fishing. One was struck by an arrow to the stomach. He lived, but the second individual was found deceased after several days with several puncture marks in his physique.

The administration has a policy of avoiding interaction with secluded communities, establishing it as forbidden to initiate interactions with them.

The policy began in a nearby nation subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by tribal advocacy organizations, who observed that early interaction with isolated people could lead to whole populations being eliminated by sickness, hardship and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru came into contact with the broader society, half of their people succumbed within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua community suffered the identical outcome.

“Secluded communities are highly vulnerable—from a disease perspective, any interaction could spread diseases, and including the most common illnesses may wipe them out,” explains a representative from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “In cultural terms, any interaction or interference can be very harmful to their life and health as a group.”

For those living nearby of {