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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small glade deep in the of Peru rainforest when he detected sounds drawing near through the lush woodland.

He realized that he stood hemmed in, and halted.

“One person stood, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he recalls. “Somehow he became aware of my presence and I commenced to flee.”

He found himself encountering members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—dwelling in the tiny community of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a neighbour to these itinerant individuals, who avoid interaction with strangers.

A new study by a advocacy organization claims there are at least 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining globally. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the largest. The report claims half of these groups could be decimated over the coming ten years should administrations don't do more to protect them.

The report asserts the biggest dangers stem from timber harvesting, digging or drilling for crude. Remote communities are highly vulnerable to basic illness—consequently, it says a threat is presented by contact with religious missionaries and online personalities in pursuit of attention.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been appearing to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from locals.

Nueva Oceania is a fishing village of a handful of clans, sitting atop on the shores of the local river deep within the of Peru Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the most accessible village by watercraft.

The territory is not designated as a safeguarded reserve for uncontacted groups, and timber firms function here.

Tomas reports that, sometimes, the sound of industrial tools can be detected around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are witnessing their woodland disrupted and destroyed.

In Nueva Oceania, residents say they are divided. They fear the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess profound respect for their “kin” dwelling in the jungle and want to defend them.

“Let them live as they live, we can't modify their way of life. For this reason we keep our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the damage to the tribe's survival, the risk of conflict and the likelihood that loggers might subject the tribe to illnesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the settlement, the tribe made their presence felt again. Letitia, a resident with a two-year-old daughter, was in the forest collecting produce when she detected them.

“There were shouting, sounds from individuals, a large number of them. As if it was a whole group yelling,” she shared with us.

That was the first instance she had encountered the Mashco Piro and she fled. Subsequently, her head was still pounding from terror.

“Since there are timber workers and operations destroying the forest they are escaping, possibly because of dread and they arrive near us,” she said. “We are uncertain how they will behave to us. That's what frightens me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the group while angling. A single person was struck by an bow to the abdomen. He survived, but the other man was located deceased days later with multiple arrow wounds in his body.

The administration maintains a policy of avoiding interaction with remote tribes, rendering it illegal to start interactions with them.

The policy was first adopted in the neighboring country following many years of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who saw that first exposure with secluded communities resulted to whole populations being wiped out by disease, destitution and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau people in the country made initial contact with the outside world, a significant portion of their population succumbed within a short period. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly vulnerable—in terms of health, any exposure may spread diseases, and including the basic infections could decimate them,” says an advocate from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or interference could be highly damaging to their life and survival as a group.”

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