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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a modest open space far in the of Peru Amazon when he detected sounds drawing near through the thick woodland.

It dawned on him he was hemmed in, and froze.

“One was standing, aiming with an arrow,” he states. “Unexpectedly he detected I was here and I began to flee.”

He ended up face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—who lives in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a neighbour to these nomadic individuals, who shun interaction with outsiders.

A recent document from a human rights group states remain no fewer than 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining globally. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the most numerous. The study says half of these communities might be eliminated in the next decade if governments don't do more actions to defend them.

It claims the most significant threats stem from logging, mining or operations for oil. Isolated tribes are highly susceptible to ordinary sickness—consequently, the study notes a risk is posed by interaction with religious missionaries and social media influencers in pursuit of engagement.

Recently, members of the tribe have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from residents.

This settlement is a angling hamlet of several households, sitting elevated on the banks of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the of Peru rainforest, 10 hours from the closest settlement by watercraft.

The territory is not recognised as a preserved area for remote communities, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the racket of logging machinery can be noticed day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are witnessing their jungle disturbed and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants state they are conflicted. They fear the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess deep regard for their “relatives” residing in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Let them live in their own way, we must not modify their traditions. That's why we keep our space,” states Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of violence and the likelihood that deforestation crews might introduce the community to sicknesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the Mashco Piro made their presence felt again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, shouts from people, a large number of them. As if it was a crowd shouting,” she told us.

That was the first instance she had come across the tribe and she fled. An hour later, her mind was persistently racing from terror.

“Because exist deforestation crews and operations clearing the forest they're running away, maybe due to terror and they end up in proximity to us,” she said. “We don't know how they will behave to us. That is the thing that scares me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were attacked by the tribe while angling. A single person was hit by an arrow to the stomach. He recovered, but the other person was found lifeless after several days with nine puncture marks in his physique.

Authorities in Peru maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, establishing it as forbidden to commence encounters with them.

The strategy was first adopted in the neighboring country subsequent to prolonged of campaigning by community representatives, who saw that first interaction with secluded communities lead to entire communities being eliminated by sickness, hardship and starvation.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau community in the country first encountered with the world outside, half of their population succumbed within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community suffered the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure might introduce diseases, and including the most common illnesses could wipe them out,” says an advocate from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any contact or intrusion can be very harmful to their life and survival as a community.”

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