More than 50 members of one of the most isolated tribes on earth were caught on camera on a river bank in the remote Peruvian Amazon.
In the video, the members of the reclusive tribe can be seen walking along the bank of the Las Piedras river.
The group, part of the Mashco Piro tribe, had appeared in recent days near the village of Monte Salvado belonging to the Yine people, who speak a language related to these indigenous people.
A smaller group of 17 had also been seen leaving the rainforest and getting near a neighbouring village.
The Mashco Piro, who live between two natural reserves in the Madre de Dios region in southeastern Peru, are rarely seen and don’t communicate much even with the Yine people.
But the Yine people had previously reported the tribe was angry about the presence of loggers on their land, according to London-based human rights organisation Survival International.
Tribe members have been seen spotted multiple times in recent weeks outside of their lands, including across the border in Brazil, Rosa Padilha from the Brazilian Catholic bishops’ Indigenous Missionary Council in the state of Acre has claimed.
She told Sky News: “They flee from loggers on the Peruvian side. They are a people with no peace, restless, because they are always on the run.”
Concerns the presence of logging companies extracting timber in the tribe’s territory may be pushing the Mashco Piro away from their land have been voiced by Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International.
She said: “This is a humanitarian disaster in the making – it’s absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco Piro’s territory is properly protected at last.”
The estimated population of the Mashco Piro is believed to be above 750.
This isn’t the first time the tribe has gained international attention. In August 2013, some of its members made rare contact with villagers to ask for food, according to local activists.
The Peruvian government forbids direct contact with Mashco Piro amid fears the immune system of tribe members isn’t able to cope with the type of germs carried by other Peruvians.
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