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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small open space within in the Peruvian Amazon when he heard movements approaching through the lush forest.

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

“One person stood, directing with an arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I started to run.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the small village of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a neighbor to these itinerant tribe, who avoid interaction with foreigners.

A new report issued by a rights organization claims there are no fewer than 196 termed “isolated tribes” left worldwide. The group is thought to be the most numerous. It states 50% of these groups could be decimated over the coming ten years should administrations neglect to implement more actions to defend them.

The report asserts the greatest dangers stem from logging, mining or drilling for petroleum. Remote communities are highly vulnerable to common disease—as such, the study notes a danger is posed by exposure with evangelical missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of attention.

Recently, Mashco Piro people have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, based on accounts from locals.

The village is a fishermen's community of a handful of households, perched elevated on the shores of the Tauhamanu River deep within the of Peru Amazon, half a day from the closest settlement by boat.

This region is not classified as a preserved zone for uncontacted groups, and deforestation operations work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the racket of industrial tools can be noticed around the clock, and the tribe members are witnessing their jungle damaged and destroyed.

In Nueva Oceania, people report they are divided. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they hold profound respect for their “relatives” residing in the woodland and want to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we must not change their traditions. For this reason we preserve our space,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are worried about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of aggression and the chance that deforestation crews might subject the tribe to illnesses they have no immunity to.

At the time in the settlement, the Mashco Piro made themselves known again. A young mother, a young mother with a two-year-old child, was in the forest gathering fruit when she heard them.

“We detected cries, sounds from individuals, many of them. As if there were a crowd shouting,” she informed us.

This marked the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she fled. An hour later, her mind was persistently pounding from anxiety.

“Since operate loggers and companies destroying the forest they are escaping, possibly because of dread and they end up close to us,” she said. “It is unclear how they will behave to us. That is the thing that terrifies me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the group while fishing. One man was struck by an bow to the abdomen. He recovered, but the other man was found dead subsequently with nine puncture marks in his physique.

The administration maintains a policy of no engagement with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to commence contact with them.

This approach began in a nearby nation following many years of campaigning by community representatives, who saw that initial interaction with isolated people could lead to entire communities being eliminated by disease, poverty and hunger.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the outside world, 50% of their community succumbed within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua tribe experienced the similar destiny.

“Remote tribes are extremely vulnerable—in terms of health, any contact might spread diseases, and including the basic infections could eliminate them,” states a representative from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any contact or intrusion could be extremely detrimental to their existence and well-being as a society.”

For those living nearby of {