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Tomas Anez Dos Santos toiled in a small glade deep in the of Peru Amazon when he heard footsteps coming closer through the lush jungle.

He became aware he was surrounded, and stood still.

“One stood, aiming with an arrow,” he states. “Somehow he became aware I was here and I commenced to run.”

He found himself encountering members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the small community of Nueva Oceania—served as almost a local to these itinerant individuals, who reject engagement with strangers.

A new report by a human rights organization claims there are a minimum of 196 described as “uncontacted groups” remaining globally. The group is believed to be the most numerous. The study claims half of these groups could be eliminated over the coming ten years if governments fail to take further measures to safeguard them.

The report asserts the greatest threats come from logging, extraction or exploration for oil. Isolated tribes are extremely vulnerable to basic illness—as such, the study states a risk is caused by interaction with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers in pursuit of clicks.

Lately, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by residents.

The village is a fishing village of several clans, sitting atop on the edges of the Tauhamanu River in the heart of the of Peru rainforest, a ten-hour journey from the most accessible settlement by watercraft.

The area is not designated as a protected zone for remote communities, and timber firms operate here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the sound of logging machinery can be noticed continuously, and the Mashco Piro people are seeing their woodland disrupted and devastated.

In Nueva Oceania, residents say they are conflicted. They fear the projectiles but they hold deep admiration for their “relatives” dwelling in the woodland and desire to defend them.

“Let them live according to their traditions, we are unable to change their way of life. That's why we maintain our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the tribe's survival, the danger of violence and the possibility that timber workers might expose the community to diseases they have no defense to.

During a visit in the village, the group made themselves known again. A young mother, a young mother with a toddler daughter, was in the woodland picking food when she detected them.

“We heard cries, sounds from people, numerous of them. As if there was a whole group shouting,” she told us.

This marked the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she ran. After sixty minutes, her head was persistently throbbing from terror.

“Because exist deforestation crews and operations cutting down the jungle they're running away, maybe out of fear and they end up in proximity to us,” she explained. “We are uncertain what their response may be towards us. This is what scares me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the tribe while fishing. One man was wounded by an bow to the stomach. He survived, but the other man was located dead days later with several puncture marks in his body.

Authorities in Peru has a approach of no engagement with isolated people, making it illegal to initiate interactions with them.

The strategy began in the neighboring country following many years of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who observed that initial interaction with remote tribes could lead to whole populations being eliminated by sickness, poverty and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in the country came into contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their people succumbed within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people faced the identical outcome.

“Secluded communities are highly at risk—in terms of health, any contact could transmit diseases, and even the most common illnesses might wipe them out,” explains an advocate from a local advocacy organization. “In cultural terms, any interaction or interference can be very harmful to their life and health as a society.”

For those living nearby of {