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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small open space far in the of Peru Amazon when he detected footsteps drawing near through the dense forest.

He realized he was surrounded, and froze.

“One was standing, aiming using an projectile,” he remembers. “And somehow he became aware of my presence and I commenced to run.”

He found himself encountering members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—dwelling in the tiny settlement of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbor to these wandering people, who avoid engagement with foreigners.

A recent study from a rights organization states there are at least 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining globally. The Mashco Piro is thought to be the largest. The report states a significant portion of these communities could be decimated over the coming ten years if governments don't do further to protect them.

The report asserts the most significant dangers stem from timber harvesting, mining or exploration for crude. Isolated tribes are exceptionally at risk to basic sickness—consequently, the study notes a threat is caused by contact with religious missionaries and online personalities looking for attention.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, as reported by residents.

This settlement is a fishermen's village of several households, perched elevated on the edges of the local river deep within the of Peru Amazon, half a day from the nearest town by canoe.

The area is not classified as a protected zone for uncontacted groups, and timber firms work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of heavy equipment can be detected day and night, and the community are observing their woodland disrupted and destroyed.

Among the locals, people say they are conflicted. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess strong respect for their “relatives” residing in the jungle and desire to safeguard them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we can't modify their traditions. That's why we preserve our space,” states Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the damage to the tribe's survival, the danger of violence and the possibility that loggers might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no defense to.

While we were in the village, the group made themselves known again. Letitia, a young mother with a toddler child, was in the woodland picking fruit when she noticed them.

“We detected cries, cries from individuals, a large number of them. As if it was a crowd calling out,” she informed us.

That was the first time she had encountered the tribe and she escaped. After sixty minutes, her head was persistently throbbing from fear.

“As operate loggers and firms clearing the jungle they are escaping, possibly because of dread and they end up close to us,” she said. “We don't know what their response may be with us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the group while fishing. One man was hit by an arrow to the stomach. He lived, but the other person was found dead subsequently with several puncture marks in his body.

Authorities in Peru follows a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The strategy began in a nearby nation following many years of lobbying by community representatives, who saw that initial exposure with remote tribes could lead to entire groups being eliminated by illness, destitution and malnutrition.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau community in Peru made initial contact with the broader society, 50% of their population died within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people suffered the same fate.

“Remote tribes are very vulnerable—in terms of health, any contact could introduce illnesses, and even the simplest ones might wipe them out,” says an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or disruption could be extremely detrimental to their existence and well-being as a society.”

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