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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny open space deep in the of Peru jungle when he heard sounds drawing near through the thick jungle.

It dawned on him that he stood surrounded, and froze.

“A single individual was standing, pointing with an arrow,” he recalls. “Unexpectedly he noticed I was here and I began to escape.”

He found himself confronting the Mashco Piro tribe. Over many years, Tomas—residing in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—had been virtually a neighbor to these nomadic individuals, who avoid interaction with strangers.

A new report by a rights organization indicates there are no fewer than 196 termed “isolated tribes” remaining in the world. The group is believed to be the largest. It claims 50% of these groups may be decimated over the coming ten years unless authorities don't do more actions to defend them.

It argues the most significant threats are from logging, extraction or operations for petroleum. Remote communities are highly vulnerable to ordinary disease—as such, it notes a danger is presented by exposure with proselytizers and digital content creators in pursuit of clicks.

Recently, members of the tribe have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to locals.

The village is a fishing village of several families, sitting high on the banks of the local river in the heart of the of Peru Amazon, 10 hours from the closest town by canoe.

The area is not recognised as a safeguarded reserve for isolated tribes, and deforestation operations work here.

Tomas says that, on occasion, the noise of logging machinery can be detected around the clock, and the community are witnessing their woodland disturbed and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants report they are torn. They are afraid of the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also have strong respect for their “kin” residing in the woodland and wish to protect them.

“Permit them to live according to their traditions, we can't change their traditions. This is why we keep our distance,” says Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are concerned about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the danger of violence and the chance that timber workers might subject the tribe to sicknesses they have no immunity to.

While we were in the community, the Mashco Piro made their presence felt again. Letitia, a young mother with a young child, was in the woodland picking produce when she noticed them.

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

This marked the initial occasion she had met the group and she escaped. After sixty minutes, her head was still pounding from anxiety.

“Because operate loggers and companies clearing the forest they're running away, perhaps due to terror and they arrive close to us,” she stated. “We don't know what their response may be towards us. That's what frightens me.”

Two years ago, a pair of timber workers were assaulted by the group while catching fish. One was wounded by an bow to the abdomen. He recovered, but the second individual was discovered dead days later with several arrow wounds in his physique.

Authorities in Peru has a approach of non-contact with isolated people, establishing it as forbidden to initiate encounters with them.

The strategy originated in the neighboring country after decades of lobbying by indigenous rights groups, who saw that initial interaction with remote tribes resulted to entire communities being eliminated by illness, hardship and starvation.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau people in Peru came into contact with the outside world, half of their people died within a matter of years. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people suffered the similar destiny.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are highly susceptible—from a disease perspective, any contact may spread illnesses, and including the simplest ones may wipe them out,” explains Issrail Aquisse from a local advocacy organization. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or intrusion may be highly damaging to their way of life and well-being as a society.”

For those living nearby of {