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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small clearing within in the of Peru jungle when he heard movements drawing near through the lush jungle.

He realized that he had been hemmed in, and halted.

“A single individual was standing, directing with an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed that I was present and I started to flee.”

He found himself face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the small settlement of Nueva Oceania—had been virtually a local to these nomadic individuals, who shun contact with foreigners.

A recent report by a human rights organization claims there are at least 196 of what it calls “uncontacted groups” remaining in the world. This tribe is considered to be the most numerous. The study claims a significant portion of these groups might be eliminated within ten years unless authorities fail to take more actions to defend them.

It argues the most significant risks are from deforestation, extraction or drilling for crude. Uncontacted groups are extremely vulnerable to basic disease—as such, the study notes a risk is caused by exposure with evangelical missionaries and online personalities looking for attention.

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

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's hamlet of several households, located high on the edges of the Tauhamanu River deep within the of Peru jungle, a ten-hour journey from the nearest town by canoe.

The territory is not designated as a protected reserve for uncontacted groups, and timber firms function here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the noise of heavy equipment can be detected day and night, and the community are seeing their forest disrupted and devastated.

Among the locals, people say they are torn. They dread the tribal weapons but they also have profound regard for their “kin” residing in the forest and want to safeguard them.

“Let them live according to their traditions, we must not alter their traditions. That's why we maintain our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the risk of violence and the likelihood that deforestation crews might subject the tribe to illnesses they have no immunity to.

At the time in the village, the Mashco Piro made their presence felt again. A young mother, a young mother with a young girl, was in the forest gathering produce when she detected them.

“There were shouting, sounds from others, numerous of them. Like it was a crowd shouting,” she shared with us.

This marked the first instance she had met the group and she ran. An hour later, her head was still racing from fear.

“Because exist timber workers and operations clearing the woodland they're running away, perhaps due to terror and they come close to us,” she stated. “We are uncertain what their response may be with us. That is the thing that terrifies me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One was wounded by an bow to the stomach. He lived, but the other person was discovered lifeless days later with nine injuries in his frame.

The Peruvian government follows a strategy of non-contact with secluded communities, establishing it as forbidden to start contact with them.

The policy originated in a nearby nation subsequent to prolonged of lobbying by community representatives, who noted that first contact with secluded communities could lead to entire groups being decimated by sickness, destitution and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in Peru first encountered with the broader society, a significant portion of their population perished within a matter of years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua tribe suffered the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very at risk—from a disease perspective, any exposure might spread sicknesses, and even the basic infections may wipe them out,” states an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “Culturally too, any contact or disruption could be extremely detrimental to their life and health as a community.”

For local residents of {