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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a tiny glade within in the of Peru jungle when he heard movements drawing near through the dense woodland.

He became aware he was hemmed in, and halted.

“One stood, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he became aware of my presence and I began to run.”

He ended up encountering the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—residing in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a neighbour to these itinerant tribe, who reject interaction with strangers.

A recent report from a rights group claims there are no fewer than 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” in existence globally. The group is thought to be the most numerous. The study claims half of these tribes could be wiped out in the next decade unless authorities don't do further to protect them.

It claims the most significant risks are from timber harvesting, extraction or exploration for petroleum. Remote communities are extremely vulnerable to basic illness—as such, it states a risk is presented by interaction with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers looking for engagement.

Lately, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, according to residents.

The village is a fishermen's community of seven or eight clans, sitting elevated on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru rainforest, half a day from the closest town by boat.

The territory is not designated as a protected area for remote communities, and deforestation operations work here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the noise of industrial tools can be detected day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are witnessing their woodland disturbed and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, residents report they are divided. They fear the projectiles but they hold deep respect for their “relatives” dwelling in the forest and wish to safeguard them.

“Let them live as they live, we are unable to modify their way of life. That's why we keep our distance,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the destruction to the community's way of life, the danger of aggression and the possibility that deforestation crews might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no defense to.

While we were in the community, the tribe made themselves known again. Letitia, a resident with a young child, was in the jungle collecting produce when she noticed them.

“We heard calls, cries from individuals, numerous of them. Like it was a large gathering shouting,” she shared with us.

That was the first instance she had encountered the tribe and she escaped. An hour later, her head was persistently pounding from fear.

“Since operate deforestation crews and companies clearing the forest they are escaping, perhaps out of fear and they arrive close to us,” she explained. “We don't know what their response may be to us. That is the thing that scares me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were attacked by the group while fishing. A single person was wounded by an bow to the gut. He lived, but the second individual was found dead days later with several injuries in his body.

The Peruvian government has a policy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, establishing it as prohibited to initiate interactions with them.

This approach originated in Brazil following many years of campaigning by indigenous rights groups, who saw that early interaction with secluded communities lead to entire groups being wiped out by disease, hardship and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the world outside, 50% of their population perished within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community faced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are highly at risk—epidemiologically, any exposure might spread diseases, and even the basic infections might wipe them out,” explains an advocate from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “In cultural terms, any interaction or interference could be very harmful to their existence and survival as a society.”

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