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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest glade deep in the of Peru Amazon when he detected movements drawing near through the thick forest.

He became aware that he stood encircled, and froze.

“A single individual was standing, directing using an projectile,” he states. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I began to run.”

He found himself confronting the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—served as almost a neighbor to these wandering individuals, who avoid interaction with outsiders.

An updated document by a human rights group states there are a minimum of 196 of what it calls “isolated tribes” left globally. This tribe is considered to be the most numerous. The report states 50% of these groups may be wiped out in the next decade if governments fail to take more actions to defend them.

It claims the greatest threats are from deforestation, mining or exploration for petroleum. Isolated tribes are highly at risk to ordinary disease—as such, it states a danger is posed by interaction with religious missionaries and social media influencers in pursuit of attention.

Lately, members of the tribe have been coming to Nueva Oceania more and more, as reported by locals.

This settlement is a fishermen's community of seven or eight families, located high on the shores of the local river deep within the of Peru Amazon, half a day from the most accessible settlement by boat.

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

Tomas reports that, at times, the sound of industrial tools can be detected around the clock, and the tribe members are witnessing their woodland disrupted and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants state they are divided. They fear the tribal weapons but they also have strong respect for their “relatives” dwelling in the forest and desire to protect them.

“Let them live according to their traditions, we are unable to modify their traditions. This is why we keep our separation,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are worried about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the threat of violence and the likelihood that timber workers might subject the Mashco Piro to illnesses they have no defense to.

At the time in the settlement, the group made their presence felt again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a two-year-old daughter, was in the jungle collecting fruit when she heard them.

“There were shouting, shouts from others, numerous of them. Like it was a crowd yelling,” she told us.

This marked the first time she had encountered the tribe and she escaped. An hour later, her head was still pounding from fear.

“As exist timber workers and operations destroying the jungle they are fleeing, possibly out of fear and they arrive near us,” she explained. “It is unclear how they might react to us. This is what frightens me.”

Recently, two loggers were confronted by the group while angling. One was struck by an projectile to the abdomen. He recovered, but the other person was found dead subsequently with several puncture marks in his frame.

The Peruvian government maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, making it forbidden to start encounters with them.

The policy originated in a nearby nation after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that first interaction with isolated people resulted to entire communities being wiped out by disease, poverty and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the world outside, a significant portion of their community perished within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community faced the same fate.

“Secluded communities are extremely at risk—epidemiologically, any contact could spread diseases, and even the basic infections could wipe them out,” explains a representative from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any exposure or disruption may be highly damaging to their existence and health as a society.”

For local residents of {