Two loggers in the Amazon were killed by arrows in an attack by an indigenous tribe that left two others missing.
Members of the Mashco Piro, an indigenous community that has long isolated itself from society, attacked workers who were opening a trail in the forest region of Madre de Dios.
FENAMAD, an organization representing more than 30 communities in the region, said the clash occurred in an area near the Pariamanu River.
At least two workers were killed by arrows, another was injured and two are missing, according to the organization’s spokesman, Daniel Peña. FENMAD has also previously lobbied the government to protect the Maschco Piro forest.
This comes after members of the tribe injured one person in another attack with bows and arrows in August.
The Mashco Piro were seen brandishing spears on the banks of a river in remote Peru (photo from June)
Survival International fears the tribe is being driven out of the rainforest by logging in the area (pictured June)
Members of the Mashco Piro have been seen outside their territory in recent months, according to images released by the NGO Survival International, which said the community is under enormous pressure from the logging industry.
In June, images were released showing the Mashco Piro brandishing spears on the banks of a river in a remote part of Peru.
At least four people, including workers and local residents, have died between 2015 and 2022 in clashes with the Mascho Piro, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Incredible footage was also captured showing the tribe standing in small groups, some running to pick up large spears lying on the ground. Others talking and gesturing to each other and helping to carry objects along the river.
“These incredible images show that large numbers of uncontacted Mashco Piro are living alone just a few kilometres from where loggers are about to begin operations,” said Caroline Pearce, Survival International’s director at the time.
The Mashco Piro tend to appear infrequently and do not communicate much with anyone, according to the NGO.
Tribe members rest on the riverbanks while others carry spears and stop to interact (pictured, June)
Rare photos show the tribe emerging from the rainforest and interacting on the riverbanks (June photo)
Experts fear the tribe could be driven from their homes by nearby logging activity (June photo)
The tribe rarely interacts even with other tribes and remains isolated in a small territory in southeastern Peru (pictured in June).
Several logging companies have logging concessions within the territory inhabited by the Mashco Piro.
One company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 200 kilometres (120 miles) of roads for its logging trucks to extract timber, according to Survival International.
The company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, according to which it has 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres) of forests in Madre de Dios to extract cedar and mahogany.
In 2022, members of the Mashco Piro tribe shot two Catahua workers with bows and arrows while they were fishing in the Tahuamanu River, killing one.
Survival International is now calling on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to withdraw its certifications from Catahua operations and is asking for support to help protect uncontacted tribes.
The Mashco Piro have also been sighted across the border in Brazil, said Rosa Padilha of the Indigenous Missionary Council of Brazilian Catholic bishops in Acre state.
“They are fleeing from loggers on the Peruvian side,” he said.
The tribe was seen in rare footage of June walking along the banks of a river in the Madre de Dios region of Peru (photo June)
‘At this time of year they appear on the beaches to take the eggs (of Amazonian turtles). That’s when we find their footprints in the sand. They leave behind a lot of turtle shells.
“They are a people who have no peace, restless, because they are always fleeing,” said Padilha.
According to Survival, there are more than 100 uncontacted tribes around the world, but many of them are now facing extinction due to habitat destruction by outsiders.
He warns that the Peruvian government has not yet enacted into law several indigenous territories on which these groups depend for their survival.
At the other end of the world, tribes are facing similar fears. In Indonesia, the Hongana Manyawa are at risk of being evicted from their home, which sits atop the world’s largest nickel deposit on the island of Halmahera.
Some emerged from isolation for the first time to beg for food from miners as they cleared their way through the forest to make way for new mines.
Survival International warned that it does not know how long the tribe will be able to survive after the encounter.
Contact with outsiders can be life-threatening due to exposure to new diseases to which isolated individuals would not have developed resistance.
