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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a modest open space deep in the Peruvian jungle when he heard footsteps drawing near through the thick jungle.

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

“A single individual positioned, aiming using an arrow,” he remembers. “And somehow he noticed of my presence and I commenced to flee.”

He found himself confronting the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—dwelling in the modest community of Nueva Oceania—was virtually a local to these itinerant people, who reject engagement with foreigners.

A new study by a human rights organization states exist at least 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” left globally. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the largest. The study claims 50% of these tribes may be decimated in the next decade unless authorities don't do additional measures to safeguard them.

It argues the greatest risks come from logging, mining or operations for petroleum. Uncontacted groups are exceptionally vulnerable to basic disease—therefore, it states a threat is posed by contact with proselytizers and digital content creators looking for attention.

In recent times, members of the tribe have been appearing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing hamlet of a handful of households, located elevated on the shores of the Tauhamanu River in the center of the of Peru rainforest, half a day from the most accessible settlement by canoe.

The area is not recognised as a preserved area for isolated tribes, and deforestation operations work here.

According to Tomas that, on occasion, the racket of industrial tools can be noticed continuously, and the tribe members are seeing their jungle disturbed and destroyed.

Among the locals, people say they are divided. They dread the tribal weapons but they hold strong regard for their “brothers” residing in the jungle and desire to protect them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we are unable to modify their culture. For this reason we preserve our separation,” states Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are worried about the harm to the community's way of life, the danger of aggression and the chance that deforestation crews might expose the community to illnesses they have no resistance to.

At the time in the village, the tribe made their presence felt again. Letitia, a young mother with a young daughter, was in the jungle picking food when she heard them.

“There were shouting, cries from others, numerous of them. Like there was a whole group yelling,” she told us.

That was the first instance she had come across the Mashco Piro and she fled. An hour later, her mind was continually throbbing from terror.

“As there are timber workers and companies destroying the jungle they are fleeing, maybe due to terror and they arrive close to us,” she stated. “We don't know how they might react to us. This is what scares me.”

Recently, two loggers were attacked by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One was wounded by an projectile to the stomach. He survived, but the other man was located lifeless after several days with multiple puncture marks in his frame.

The administration maintains a strategy of non-contact with secluded communities, establishing it as prohibited to start contact with them.

This approach originated in Brazil following many years of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who saw that initial exposure with secluded communities resulted to whole populations being wiped out by sickness, poverty and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in Peru made initial contact with the outside world, half of their community succumbed within a few years. A decade later, the Muruhanua tribe suffered the similar destiny.

“Remote tribes are extremely at risk—in terms of health, any exposure might spread illnesses, and even the most common illnesses might decimate them,” says a representative from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or interference may be highly damaging to their existence and health as a group.”

For local residents of {