Uncontacted tribe spotted in Peruvian Amazon where loggers are active | Peru

Survival International has released rare footage of the Mashco Piro, an uncontacted indigenous tribe in the Peruvian Amazon, showing dozens of people on the banks of a river near logging concessions.

In recent weeks, the reclusive tribe has been seen emerging from the rainforest more frequently in search of food, apparently away from the growing presence of loggers, local indigenous rights group Fenamad said.

The Mashco Piro were photographed in late June on the banks of a river in the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru, near the border with Brazil, Survival International said in releasing the photos.

“These incredible images show that many uncontacted Mashco Piro are living alone just a few kilometres from where the loggers are about to begin their operations,” said Survival International’s director Caroline Pearce.

More than 50 people from the Mashco Piro tribe have appeared in recent days near a village of the Yine people called Monte Salvado. Another group of 17 people appeared near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo, the NGO, which defends indigenous rights, said.

The Mashco Piro, who inhabit an area between two nature reserves in Madre de Dios, rarely appear and do not communicate much with the Yine or anyone else, according to Survival International.

Several logging companies hold logging concessions within the territory inhabited by the Mashco Piro.

According to Survival International, one company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 200km of roads to allow its logging trucks to extract timber.

A representative for Canales Tahuamanu in Lima did not respond to a request for comment.

The company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, according to which it owns 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres) of forests in Madre de Dios to extract cedar and mahogany.

The Peruvian government reported on June 28 that local residents had reported seeing Mashco Piro on the Las Piedras River, 150 km from the city of Puerto Maldonado, the capital of Madre de Dios.

The Mashco Piro have also been sighted across the border in Brazil, said Rosa Padilha of the Brazilian Catholic Bishops’ Indigenous Missionary Council in Acre state.

“They are fleeing from the loggers on the Peruvian side,” she explained. “At this time of year, they appear on the beaches to take will track down (Amazonian turtle eggs). That’s when we find their footprints in the sand. They leave behind many turtle shells.

“They are a people who have no peace, who are restless, because they are always on the run,” Padilha said.