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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small clearing deep in the of Peru Amazon when he noticed movements drawing near through the thick jungle.

He became aware he was hemmed in, and froze.

“One person stood, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he states. “And somehow he became aware I was here and I commenced to escape.”

He found himself confronting the Mashco Piro tribe. For decades, Tomas—who lives in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbour to these wandering tribe, who reject contact with strangers.

An updated study from a human rights group claims there are at least 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” remaining globally. This tribe is thought to be the biggest. The report states 50% of these communities could be decimated over the coming ten years should administrations neglect to implement additional measures to safeguard them.

It argues the most significant dangers come from deforestation, extraction or operations for oil. Remote communities are extremely susceptible to basic disease—therefore, the report says a danger is presented by contact with evangelical missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of clicks.

Lately, Mashco Piro people have been appearing to Nueva Oceania more and more, according to locals.

This settlement is a angling community of a handful of clans, perched high on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru jungle, half a day from the closest settlement by canoe.

The area is not designated as a protected area for isolated tribes, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the racket of heavy equipment can be noticed around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their forest disturbed and ruined.

Among the locals, residents report they are divided. They fear the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also have strong regard for their “relatives” residing in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Let them live as they live, we can't modify their culture. For this reason we keep our distance,” explains Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the danger of conflict and the possibility that timber workers might introduce the community to illnesses they have no defense to.

At the time in the settlement, the group made their presence felt again. Letitia, a woman with a toddler daughter, was in the jungle collecting produce when she heard them.

“We heard cries, cries from others, numerous of them. As though it was a whole group yelling,” she informed us.

It was the first instance she had met the tribe and she fled. Subsequently, her mind was still throbbing from fear.

“As there are loggers and companies clearing the jungle they are escaping, perhaps out of fear and they come near us,” she said. “We don't know how they might react to us. This is what frightens me.”

Two years ago, two loggers were assaulted by the tribe while fishing. A single person was struck by an bow to the abdomen. He survived, but the other man was located dead after several days with multiple puncture marks in his physique.

The administration follows a policy of no engagement with secluded communities, rendering it forbidden to initiate contact with them.

This approach originated in a nearby nation after decades of advocacy by indigenous rights groups, who saw that early contact with isolated people could lead to entire groups being eliminated by sickness, hardship and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the outside world, 50% of their population died within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua people suffered the same fate.

“Remote tribes are very vulnerable—in terms of health, any contact may spread sicknesses, and even the basic infections might eliminate them,” states a representative from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any exposure or disruption may be highly damaging to their life and well-being as a community.”

For those living nearby of {