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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest open space within in the Peruvian jungle when he noticed footsteps approaching through the thick woodland.

It dawned on him that he had been hemmed in, and froze.

“One person positioned, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed I was here and I started to run.”

He found himself face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the small village of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a neighbor to these wandering tribe, who reject interaction with strangers.

A recent study from a rights group indicates exist no fewer than 196 described as “isolated tribes” remaining in the world. This tribe is believed to be the biggest. The study claims half of these tribes may be decimated over the coming ten years if governments fail to take more to protect them.

The report asserts the greatest dangers stem from logging, digging or drilling for petroleum. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally susceptible to common illness—therefore, the report notes a threat is caused by exposure with proselytizers and online personalities looking for clicks.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been appearing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of families, sitting elevated on the edges of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the Peruvian rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the nearest settlement by watercraft.

The area is not classified as a safeguarded reserve for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations operate here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of industrial tools can be detected continuously, and the community are witnessing their forest disrupted and ruined.

Within the village, inhabitants report they are torn. They fear the projectiles but they also possess deep respect for their “brothers” dwelling in the forest and want to protect them.

“Let them live as they live, we can't modify their culture. This is why we keep our distance,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the damage to the community's way of life, the risk of violence and the chance that loggers might expose the tribe to illnesses they have no resistance to.

While we were in the settlement, the tribe appeared again. A young mother, a woman with a two-year-old child, was in the jungle collecting produce when she noticed them.

“There were shouting, sounds from others, numerous of them. As though there were a whole group calling out,” she shared with us.

This marked the initial occasion she had met the tribe and she ran. After sixty minutes, her mind was persistently throbbing from terror.

“As operate loggers and companies destroying the forest they're running away, maybe because of dread and they arrive close to us,” she said. “It is unclear what their response may be with us. That is the thing that terrifies me.”

Recently, two loggers were assaulted by the group while angling. One was struck by an bow to the gut. He survived, but the other person was located deceased days later with several arrow wounds in his body.

The administration has a strategy of non-contact with remote tribes, rendering it illegal to start encounters with them.

The policy originated in a nearby nation subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by community representatives, who noted that first interaction with secluded communities lead to entire communities being wiped out by sickness, destitution and hunger.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the broader society, 50% of their population died within a matter of years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe faced the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—from a disease perspective, any exposure could transmit illnesses, and including the most common illnesses may wipe them out,” explains a representative from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or intrusion could be very harmful to their way of life and well-being as a society.”

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