'Brothers in the forest' - the fight to protect an isolated Amazon tribe

1 hour ago Share Save Stephanie Hegarty Global population correspondent Share Save

Fenamad

Tomas Anez Dos Santos was working in a small clearing in the Peruvian Amazon, when he heard footsteps approaching in the forest. He realised he was surrounded, and froze. "One was standing, aiming with an arrow," he says. "And somehow he noticed I was here and I started to run." He had come face to face with the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas - who lives in the small village of Nueva Oceania - had been practically a neighbour to these nomadic people, who shun contact with outsiders. However, until very recently, he had rarely seen them. The Mashco Piro have chosen to be cut off from the world for more than a century. They hunt with long bows and arrows, relying on the Amazonian rainforest for everything they need. "They started circling and whistling, imitating animals, many different types of birds," Tomas recalls. "I kept saying: 'Nomole' (brother). Then they gathered, they felt closer, so we headed toward the river and ran."

Tomas feels protective towards the Mashco Piro: "Let them live as they live"

A new report by the human rights organisation, Survival International, says there are at least 196 of what it calls "uncontacted groups" left in the world. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the largest. The report says half of these groups could be wiped out in the next decade if governments don't do more to protect them.