They have stayed away for over a hundred years.
But now new images show about thirty people from the Mashco Piro tribe who left their remote part of the Amazon rainforest in search of food.
According to the human rights organization Survival International, they are facing a “humanitarian disaster” after loggers encroached on their territory.
There are estimated to be around 750 of them. Mashco Piro lives in a hunter-gatherer community in a remote part of the Amazon in Peru.
They have historically actively avoided contact with other humans, but in recent weeks many of them have left their hiding area in search of food.
“Humanitarian disaster”
Film clips published by the British human rights organization Survival International show how tens of people from the tribe made it to the shore near the village of Monte Salvado.
Several forestry companies have been granted the right to harvest forest in the area where the Mashco Piro tribe lives. According to Survival International, the images show the devastating consequences for the tribe.
– This is an ongoing humanitarian disaster. It is imperative that the loggers are kicked out and that Mashco Piro’s territory is finally properly protected, says CEO Caroline Pearce, according to Sky News.
Has built over 20 miles of roads
The Canales Tahuamanu company has built over 200 kilometers of road for its logging trucks to extract timber, according to Survival International.
People from Mashco Piro have also been seen at the Brazilian border.
– They are fleeing loggers on the Peruvian side, says Rosa Padilha, representative of a mission council in Brazil, to Sky News.
The organization Fenamad, which works for the rights of indigenous peoples, is now calling on the Peruvian government to take measures to protect the tribe.