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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny glade far in the of Peru rainforest when he heard movements drawing near through the lush forest.

It dawned on him that he had been hemmed in, and froze.

“A single individual was standing, aiming with an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I commenced to escape.”

He ended up face to face the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a neighbour to these wandering people, who reject contact with foreigners.

A recent document from a human rights group claims there are no fewer than 196 described as “isolated tribes” left worldwide. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the most numerous. The report says a significant portion of these communities might be decimated within ten years unless authorities fail to take further to protect them.

It argues the greatest dangers stem from logging, digging or operations for petroleum. Remote communities are exceptionally vulnerable to ordinary sickness—therefore, the study states a risk is presented by exposure with proselytizers and online personalities seeking attention.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, based on accounts from locals.

This settlement is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of clans, sitting high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru Amazon, 10 hours from the nearest village by watercraft.

This region is not classified as a protected area for remote communities, and timber firms work here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the noise of industrial tools can be detected day and night, and the community are seeing their jungle disturbed and destroyed.

Among the locals, residents say they are divided. They fear the tribal weapons but they also have deep admiration for their “brothers” who live in the forest and desire to protect them.

“Permit them to live as they live, we can't change their culture. This is why we keep our space,” explains Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the threat of conflict and the chance that timber workers might introduce the Mashco Piro to illnesses they have no resistance to.

While we were in the village, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a toddler girl, was in the forest gathering food when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, sounds from others, numerous of them. Like there was a crowd shouting,” she shared with us.

This marked the first time she had encountered the group and she escaped. An hour later, her mind was persistently throbbing from anxiety.

“As operate deforestation crews and firms clearing the woodland they are fleeing, maybe due to terror and they arrive in proximity to us,” she stated. “It is unclear how they will behave to us. That's what frightens me.”

Recently, two loggers were assaulted by the tribe while fishing. A single person was hit by an projectile to the stomach. He survived, but the second individual was found dead after several days with several injuries in his body.

The administration maintains a policy of non-contact with isolated people, making it forbidden to start encounters with them.

The policy was first adopted in the neighboring country subsequent to prolonged of lobbying by community representatives, who observed that early contact with isolated people could lead to entire communities being decimated by illness, destitution and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country first encountered with the world outside, 50% of their people died within a short period. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the same fate.

“Secluded communities are very at risk—from a disease perspective, any contact could introduce sicknesses, and including the simplest ones may eliminate them,” explains an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any contact or intrusion may be highly damaging to their existence and well-being as a community.”

For local residents of {