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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small glade deep in the Peruvian rainforest when he detected sounds coming closer through the thick jungle.

He realized he was surrounded, and halted.

“A single individual positioned, pointing using an arrow,” he states. “Unexpectedly he became aware that I was present and I began to escape.”

He ended up encountering the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the tiny community of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a local to these nomadic individuals, who shun contact with outsiders.

A new study from a advocacy organisation indicates remain at least 196 termed “uncontacted groups” left in the world. The group is thought to be the largest. The study claims a significant portion of these groups may be wiped out in the next decade should administrations neglect to implement additional measures to safeguard them.

It claims the most significant risks are from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for petroleum. Remote communities are extremely at risk to ordinary disease—therefore, it states a threat is presented by contact with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers looking for attention.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to inhabitants.

The village is a fishing community of a handful of families, located high on the shores of the Tauhamanu waterway deep within the Peruvian jungle, a ten-hour journey from the nearest settlement by boat.

The territory is not recognised as a preserved zone for isolated tribes, and deforestation operations operate here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the sound of logging machinery can be detected around the clock, and the tribe members are observing their woodland disrupted and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants say they are conflicted. They dread the tribal weapons but they hold profound respect for their “kin” residing in the woodland and desire to protect them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to alter their traditions. This is why we keep our separation,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of violence and the likelihood that timber workers might subject the community to sicknesses they have no defense to.

While we were in the settlement, the Mashco Piro appeared again. Letitia, a resident with a young girl, was in the jungle picking food when she noticed them.

“There were cries, cries from people, numerous of them. Like there was a large gathering calling out,” she told us.

It was the first time she had come across the group and she fled. An hour later, her thoughts was persistently throbbing from anxiety.

“As there are deforestation crews and operations destroying the forest they are fleeing, maybe because of dread and they come in proximity to us,” she explained. “We are uncertain what their response may be to us. This is what terrifies me.”

In 2022, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the group while catching fish. One was hit by an projectile to the stomach. He lived, but the second individual was located lifeless days later with several injuries in his frame.

Authorities in Peru has a strategy of non-contact with remote tribes, making it prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The policy originated in the neighboring country after decades of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that initial contact with remote tribes lead to whole populations being wiped out by sickness, hardship and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the broader society, 50% of their people perished within a short period. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua people suffered the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly at risk—from a disease perspective, any contact could spread sicknesses, and even the basic infections might wipe them out,” states a representative from a local advocacy organization. “Culturally too, any contact or intrusion can be very harmful to their existence and health as a society.”

For local residents of {