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Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a tiny clearing deep in the of Peru rainforest when he detected footsteps approaching through the thick woodland.

It dawned on him he was hemmed in, and stood still.

“One person was standing, directing using an arrow,” he states. “Unexpectedly he detected I was here and I began to run.”

He found himself confronting members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—who lives in the modest village of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a local to these itinerant people, who shun interaction with strangers.

An updated document by a human rights group states there are at least 196 of what it calls “remote communities” remaining worldwide. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the largest. The report states 50% of these groups might be eliminated within ten years unless authorities fail to take additional measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the most significant risks come from deforestation, digging or operations for crude. Remote communities are highly vulnerable to common sickness—consequently, the report states a danger is caused by exposure with religious missionaries and digital content creators seeking clicks.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishing village of several households, sitting atop on the shores of the local river in the heart of the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the closest town by boat.

The territory is not designated as a preserved reserve for remote communities, and timber firms function here.

Tomas says that, at times, the noise of logging machinery can be noticed around the clock, and the community are seeing their woodland disrupted and devastated.

Among the locals, inhabitants state they are conflicted. They fear the tribal weapons but they also possess profound respect for their “relatives” who live in the forest and desire to safeguard them.

“Let them live as they live, we are unable to modify their way of life. That's why we preserve our space,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are worried about the harm to the tribe's survival, the danger of violence and the likelihood that loggers might introduce the Mashco Piro to illnesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler daughter, was in the woodland gathering fruit when she heard them.

“There were cries, sounds from people, many of them. As if there were a whole group yelling,” she told us.

It was the first instance she had come across the Mashco Piro and she ran. Subsequently, her head was still pounding from fear.

“Since operate deforestation crews and firms clearing the jungle they are escaping, maybe out of fear and they end up near us,” she stated. “We don't know what their response may be with us. That is the thing that scares me.”

In 2022, two individuals were attacked by the Mashco Piro while fishing. A single person was struck by an arrow to the gut. He recovered, but the other man was discovered dead days later with several arrow wounds in his body.

Authorities in Peru has a policy of avoiding interaction with secluded communities, rendering it forbidden to initiate interactions with them.

The strategy began in the neighboring country after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that early contact with isolated people lead to entire communities being decimated by disease, hardship and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in the country came into contact with the outside world, half of their population succumbed within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe suffered the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are extremely susceptible—in terms of health, any interaction could transmit diseases, and even the simplest ones may eliminate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any contact or intrusion may be extremely detrimental to their existence and health as a community.”

For local residents of {