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Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny clearing within in the of Peru Amazon when he noticed movements coming closer through the dense forest.

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

“A single individual stood, pointing with an projectile,” he recalls. “Somehow he became aware I was here and I began to run.”

He ended up face to face the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—who lives in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbour to these itinerant individuals, who avoid interaction with strangers.

An updated study issued by a human rights organization claims remain at least 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” remaining globally. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the most numerous. The study says 50% of these communities could be decimated within ten years should administrations neglect to implement additional measures to safeguard them.

It claims the biggest threats stem from timber harvesting, digging or operations for petroleum. Isolated tribes are extremely vulnerable to common sickness—as such, the report says a threat is caused by contact with proselytizers and online personalities in pursuit of attention.

Lately, members of the tribe have been appearing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to locals.

This settlement is a angling community of a handful of clans, sitting atop on the banks of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, a ten-hour journey from the closest village by canoe.

The area is not recognised as a preserved area for uncontacted groups, and timber firms work here.

Tomas says that, at times, the racket of heavy equipment can be heard continuously, and the community are observing their woodland damaged and devastated.

Among the locals, people state they are conflicted. They fear the projectiles but they hold strong respect for their “brothers” residing in the jungle and wish to safeguard them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we can't modify their way of life. For this reason we preserve our separation,” says Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of aggression and the likelihood that loggers might introduce the tribe to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

During a visit in the settlement, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a two-year-old daughter, was in the jungle gathering food when she detected them.

“We detected calls, cries from people, many of them. As if it was a crowd yelling,” she told us.

That was the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she ran. After sixty minutes, her thoughts was still racing from fear.

“As operate timber workers and operations destroying the jungle they are escaping, perhaps out of fear and they arrive close to us,” she said. “We don't know what their response may be with us. That is the thing that terrifies me.”

Recently, two loggers were attacked by the tribe while fishing. One was hit by an bow to the stomach. He lived, but the second individual was discovered lifeless days later with multiple puncture marks in his physique.

The Peruvian government maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, rendering it illegal to commence contact with them.

The strategy originated in Brazil subsequent to prolonged of advocacy by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that first exposure with isolated people lead to entire groups being eliminated by sickness, hardship and hunger.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau community in the country came into contact with the world outside, half of their people perished within a matter of years. A decade later, the Muruhanua community suffered the similar destiny.

“Remote tribes are highly vulnerable—epidemiologically, any contact may transmit diseases, and including the most common illnesses could eliminate them,” states a representative from a local advocacy organization. “Culturally too, any contact or interference may be extremely detrimental to their existence and health as a group.”

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