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Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny open space deep in the Peruvian Amazon when he noticed movements approaching through the lush jungle.

He realized he was hemmed in, and stood still.

“One person was standing, aiming using an bow and arrow,” he remembers. “Unexpectedly he became aware of my presence and I began to flee.”

He had come confronting members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the modest village of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a local to these itinerant individuals, who shun contact with strangers.

A recent document by a advocacy organisation states remain at least 196 termed “uncontacted groups” in existence worldwide. The group is believed to be the biggest. The report says 50% of these tribes might be decimated within ten years unless authorities don't do more measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the greatest risks stem from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for petroleum. Remote communities are extremely vulnerable to common illness—therefore, the study notes a risk is presented by exposure with proselytizers and social media influencers looking for clicks.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishermen's community of seven or eight households, located elevated on the edges of the Tauhamanu waterway in the center of the of Peru jungle, half a day from the most accessible settlement by watercraft.

This region is not recognised as a safeguarded reserve for uncontacted groups, and timber firms function here.

Tomas says that, on occasion, the noise of heavy equipment can be heard day and night, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their forest disturbed and devastated.

Among the locals, people report they are torn. They fear the projectiles but they also have profound regard for their “brothers” dwelling in the woodland and want to defend them.

“Allow them to live as they live, we can't alter their way of life. This is why we keep our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the tribe's survival, the threat of aggression and the possibility that deforestation crews might subject the community to illnesses they have no immunity to.

At the time in the community, the group made their presence felt again. A young mother, a young mother with a toddler child, was in the woodland collecting produce when she heard them.

“We heard calls, sounds from individuals, many of them. As if there were a crowd yelling,” she informed us.

It was the first time she had come across the tribe and she escaped. Subsequently, her mind was still racing from terror.

“Since exist loggers and firms clearing the jungle they're running away, maybe out of fear and they arrive near us,” she stated. “It is unclear what their response may be to us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the Mashco Piro while fishing. One was struck by an arrow to the gut. He recovered, but the other man was located deceased days later with several puncture marks in his body.

The Peruvian government follows a approach of avoiding interaction with secluded communities, establishing it as forbidden to start interactions with them.

The policy was first adopted in the neighboring country after decades of advocacy by community representatives, who saw that first interaction with isolated people lead to entire communities being decimated by illness, poverty and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru made initial contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their community perished within a short period. A decade later, the Muruhanua people experienced the similar destiny.

“Secluded communities are highly at risk—from a disease perspective, any exposure may spread illnesses, and including the most common illnesses could eliminate them,” states a representative from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or intrusion can be extremely detrimental to their existence and survival as a group.”

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