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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small clearing deep in the Peruvian rainforest when he noticed footsteps drawing near through the dense forest.

He realized that he stood surrounded, and froze.

“A single individual was standing, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he noticed I was here and I commenced to flee.”

He had come confronting members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a neighbour to these nomadic individuals, who reject engagement with strangers.

An updated study issued by a rights organization indicates remain a minimum of 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” in existence globally. The group is believed to be the largest. The study claims a significant portion of these tribes may be wiped out in the next decade if governments neglect to implement more measures to safeguard them.

It claims the biggest dangers stem from deforestation, extraction or drilling for crude. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally susceptible to common sickness—as such, it says a danger is caused by contact with evangelical missionaries and digital content creators looking for attention.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been appearing to Nueva Oceania more and more, according to residents.

The village is a fishing hamlet of several families, sitting elevated on the edges of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the of Peru rainforest, half a day from the nearest settlement by canoe.

The area is not classified as a preserved reserve for isolated tribes, and timber firms function here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the sound of heavy equipment can be noticed day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest disturbed and destroyed.

Within the village, residents state they are divided. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they hold strong regard for their “relatives” dwelling in the forest and wish to protect them.

“Allow them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to alter their culture. This is why we maintain our distance,” says Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of conflict and the chance that deforestation crews might introduce the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the tribe made their presence felt again. Letitia, a woman with a young daughter, was in the forest collecting food when she heard them.

“We heard shouting, sounds from individuals, numerous of them. As if it was a crowd calling out,” she shared with us.

This marked the first time she had come across the tribe and she escaped. After sixty minutes, her head was continually throbbing from terror.

“Since there are timber workers and operations clearing the jungle they are escaping, perhaps due to terror and they end up in proximity to us,” she said. “We don't know what their response may be to us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the tribe while angling. A single person was wounded by an projectile to the abdomen. He lived, but the second individual was located dead after several days with multiple arrow wounds in his body.

Authorities in Peru maintains a strategy of no engagement with remote tribes, establishing it as forbidden to initiate contact with them.

This approach originated in Brazil following many years of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that initial exposure with secluded communities resulted to entire groups being decimated by sickness, hardship and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the broader society, 50% of their people died within a few years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community faced the same fate.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure could introduce diseases, and even the basic infections could decimate them,” states a representative from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “Culturally too, any exposure or disruption can be extremely detrimental to their way of life and survival as a group.”

For local residents of {