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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small glade deep in the Peruvian Amazon when he heard footsteps drawing near through the dense woodland.

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

“A single individual positioned, aiming with an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he became aware I was here and I began to flee.”

He had come confronting the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—who lives in the tiny community of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a local to these itinerant tribe, who reject contact with foreigners.

An updated report from a advocacy group states exist at least 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining worldwide. The group is considered to be the largest. It claims a significant portion of these groups might be decimated over the coming ten years unless authorities don't do more to protect them.

It claims the biggest risks stem from deforestation, digging or exploration for oil. Isolated tribes are highly susceptible to basic disease—consequently, the report states a danger is caused by interaction with proselytizers and digital content creators looking for attention.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania more and more, according to inhabitants.

The village is a fishing community of a handful of families, located high on the shores of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the nearest village by boat.

The area is not recognised as a safeguarded zone for isolated tribes, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the noise of industrial tools can be detected around the clock, and the community are observing their jungle disturbed and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, residents say they are conflicted. They dread the Mashco Piro's arrows but they hold strong admiration for their “brothers” who live in the woodland and want to protect them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we are unable to modify their culture. For this reason we maintain our separation,” says Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the tribe's survival, the threat of aggression and the likelihood that loggers might expose the community to illnesses they have no immunity to.

During a visit in the community, the tribe made their presence felt again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a young child, was in the forest picking food when she detected them.

“We detected shouting, shouts from individuals, many of them. As if it was a large gathering shouting,” she told us.

That was the first time she had met the tribe and she ran. Subsequently, her mind was still throbbing from fear.

“Because operate loggers and firms cutting down the jungle they are fleeing, maybe because of dread and they end up in proximity to us,” she stated. “It is unclear how they will behave to us. This is what frightens me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were attacked by the tribe while catching fish. One man was wounded by an bow to the stomach. He recovered, but the other person was found lifeless after several days with nine arrow wounds in his frame.

Authorities in Peru has a approach of no engagement with secluded communities, establishing it as illegal to start interactions with them.

The policy began in the neighboring country following many years of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that early exposure with isolated people lead to entire communities being decimated by illness, hardship and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru made initial contact with the world outside, 50% of their people perished within a short period. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe faced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very vulnerable—from a disease perspective, any interaction may spread sicknesses, and even the basic infections might wipe them out,” states Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “From a societal perspective, any contact or disruption could be highly damaging to their existence and well-being as a community.”

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