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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny clearing within in the of Peru Amazon when he detected footsteps coming closer through the thick jungle.

He became aware that he had been encircled, and stood still.

“One person positioned, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he states. “Somehow he became aware of my presence and I began to run.”

He found himself encountering the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the modest settlement of Nueva Oceania—was practically a neighbour to these wandering people, who avoid contact with foreigners.

A new study from a rights group indicates there are a minimum of 196 described as “uncontacted groups” left globally. This tribe is thought to be the biggest. The report states half of these tribes may be decimated in the next decade unless authorities neglect to implement additional measures to safeguard them.

It argues the most significant risks stem from timber harvesting, digging or operations for crude. Uncontacted groups are highly susceptible to common illness—therefore, the report states a risk is posed by exposure with religious missionaries and social media influencers looking for engagement.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been appearing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from inhabitants.

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's community of a handful of clans, located atop on the edges of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the of Peru Amazon, 10 hours from the most accessible settlement by watercraft.

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

Tomas says that, on occasion, the racket of heavy equipment can be heard around the clock, and the tribe members are observing their forest disturbed and destroyed.

In Nueva Oceania, people say they are torn. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also have deep respect for their “relatives” dwelling in the forest and desire to safeguard them.

“Allow them to live as they live, we can't modify their traditions. This is why we keep our distance,” explains Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the community's way of life, the threat of violence and the possibility that loggers might expose the tribe to illnesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the group made themselves known again. A young mother, a young mother with a toddler child, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she heard them.

“We heard cries, sounds from individuals, a large number of them. Like there were a crowd yelling,” she informed us.

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

“Since there are deforestation crews and operations destroying the jungle they are escaping, possibly due to terror and they end up close to us,” she explained. “We don't know what their response may be towards us. That's what scares me.”

In 2022, two individuals were assaulted by the tribe while catching fish. One man was hit by an arrow to the abdomen. He lived, but the other man was found lifeless days later with several puncture marks in his physique.

The administration follows a strategy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, making it forbidden to start interactions with them.

The policy began in a nearby nation after decades of advocacy by community representatives, who noted that first contact with secluded communities could lead to entire groups being decimated by illness, poverty and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country came into contact with the outside world, 50% of their community succumbed within a matter of years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community experienced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are very at risk—epidemiologically, any exposure may introduce sicknesses, and even the simplest ones might eliminate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “Culturally too, any interaction or interference can be extremely detrimental to their life and survival as a community.”

For those living nearby of {