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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small open space deep in the Peruvian Amazon when he heard movements drawing near through the dense jungle.

He realized he was hemmed in, and stood still.

“One stood, directing using an arrow,” he states. “And somehow he noticed that I was present and I started to run.”

He had come confronting members of the Mashco Piro. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the small settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as almost a neighbour to these wandering people, who avoid engagement with outsiders.

A new study from a rights group states there are at least 196 termed “uncontacted groups” left worldwide. The Mashco Piro is considered to be the biggest. The study states 50% of these tribes may be decimated within ten years if governments don't do additional measures to safeguard them.

It claims the biggest threats stem from timber harvesting, mining or operations for oil. Isolated tribes are highly susceptible to basic disease—therefore, the study notes a risk is presented by contact with religious missionaries and online personalities seeking attention.

In recent times, the Mashco Piro have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, based on accounts from locals.

This settlement is a fishermen's community of several clans, perched atop on the shores of the Tauhamanu River deep within the of Peru Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the nearest settlement by boat.

This region is not classified as a preserved reserve for remote communities, and timber firms work here.

According to Tomas that, at times, the racket of heavy equipment can be detected around the clock, and the Mashco Piro people are observing their forest disturbed and devastated.

Among the locals, people state they are divided. They fear the projectiles but they hold profound regard for their “kin” who live in the woodland and want to protect them.

“Let them live as they live, we must not modify their culture. That's why we preserve our separation,” explains Tomas.

Inhabitants in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the threat of conflict and the possibility that timber workers might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

During a visit in the community, the tribe made themselves known again. A young mother, a young mother with a toddler daughter, was in the jungle picking fruit when she heard them.

“There were calls, cries from individuals, many of them. As though there was a large gathering shouting,” she shared with us.

That was the first time she had encountered the tribe and she escaped. An hour later, her thoughts was persistently racing from terror.

“Since exist loggers and firms clearing the forest they are fleeing, possibly due to terror and they come in proximity to us,” she stated. “We are uncertain how they will behave towards us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the group while angling. One was wounded by an arrow to the abdomen. He survived, but the other man was discovered deceased after several days with multiple injuries in his body.

The Peruvian government maintains a strategy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, rendering it forbidden to start contact with them.

This approach was first adopted in a nearby nation subsequent to prolonged of lobbying by community representatives, who observed that early exposure with isolated people resulted to whole populations being decimated by illness, destitution and starvation.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau tribe in the country made initial contact with the world outside, 50% of their population perished within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people faced the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very at risk—from a disease perspective, any interaction could introduce illnesses, and even the most common illnesses could decimate them,” says Issrail Aquisse from a Peruvian indigenous rights group. “From a societal perspective, any interaction or disruption can be highly damaging to their way of life and well-being as a community.”

For local residents of {