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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a modest clearing deep in the of Peru rainforest when he heard sounds drawing near through the thick woodland.

He realized he was encircled, and froze.

“A single individual positioned, directing using an projectile,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I started to run.”

He had come face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was almost a neighbor to these itinerant people, who reject contact with outsiders.

A recent report issued by a human rights organisation claims there are at least 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” left worldwide. This tribe is thought to be the largest. It says half of these tribes might be eliminated in the next decade if governments neglect to implement additional to protect them.

It claims the biggest threats are from timber harvesting, extraction or operations for crude. Isolated tribes are exceptionally at risk to ordinary illness—consequently, the study notes a risk is posed by contact with religious missionaries and digital content creators in pursuit of attention.

Recently, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from residents.

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's village of a handful of clans, sitting atop on the banks of the local river deep within the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the nearest village by canoe.

This region is not designated as a safeguarded reserve for remote communities, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the racket of heavy equipment can be detected continuously, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their jungle disrupted and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are divided. 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 as they live, we are unable to change their culture. That's why we keep our space,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the destruction to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the risk of conflict and the possibility that timber workers might introduce the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the settlement, the tribe made themselves known again. A young mother, a resident with a young daughter, was in the woodland collecting food when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, sounds from people, many of them. As though there was a whole group shouting,” she informed us.

This marked the first time she had met the tribe and she escaped. After sixty minutes, her mind was continually throbbing from fear.

“As exist loggers and firms destroying the woodland they are escaping, perhaps out of fear and they end up near us,” she explained. “We don't know how they will behave with us. That's what terrifies me.”

Recently, two individuals were attacked by the tribe while angling. One man was hit by an arrow to the abdomen. He lived, but the other man was found dead after several days with nine puncture marks in his frame.

The administration maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, establishing it as prohibited to commence interactions with them.

The policy was first adopted in Brazil after decades of advocacy by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that early exposure with secluded communities resulted to entire groups being decimated by sickness, hardship and hunger.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau tribe in the country came into contact with the world outside, 50% of their population perished within a few years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua community faced the similar destiny.

“Remote tribes are extremely susceptible—epidemiologically, any exposure could transmit illnesses, and even the most common illnesses might eliminate them,” explains a representative from a tribal support group. “Culturally too, any contact or intrusion may be extremely detrimental to their way of life and health as a group.”

For those living nearby of {