Rare images show the Mashco Piro, a previously uncontacted tribe deep in the Peruvian Amazon, escaping from their isolated territory.
Survival International shared photographs on Tuesday showing multiple tribe members lounging along a riverside. This sighting coincides with mounting concerns for the Mashco Piro’s well-being.
According to FENAMAD, a local Indigenous rights organization, rising logging activity in the area is likely forcing the tribe off their ancestral territories. The Mashco Piro may be moving closer to settlements in search of food and a safe haven.
According to Survival International, the photographs were taken in late June near the banks of a river in Madre de Dios, Peru’s southeastern province bordering Brazil.
❗️ New & extraordinary footage released today show dozens of uncontacted Mashco Piro Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon, just a few miles from several logging companies.
— Survival International (@Survival) July 16, 2024
Read the news: https://t.co/g9GrZlf3XB pic.twitter.com/fZv5rryzVp
“These incredible images show that a large number of isolated Mashco Piro live alone a few kilometres from where the loggers are about to start their operations,” said Survival International director Caroline Pearce.
In recent days, more than 50 Mashco Piro people have appeared near the Yine settlement of Monte Salvado. Another group of 17 emerged in the nearby village of Puerto Nuevo, according to the NGO that advocates for Indigenous rights.
According to Survival International, the Mashco Piro, who live in a location between two natural reserves in Madre de Dios, are rarely seen and speak little with the Yine or anybody else.
Several logging companies hold timber concessions in the Mashco Piro territory.
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.
A Canales Tahuamanu representative in Lima did not respond to a request for comment.
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.
The Peruvian government reported on June 28 that local residents had reported seeing Mashco Piro on the Las Piedras river, 150 kilometres (93 miles) 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, at the Brazilian Catholic bishops’ Indigenous Missionary Council in the state of Acre.
“They flee from loggers on the Peruvian side,” she said. “At this time of the year, they appear on the beaches to take tracajá (Amazon turtle) eggs. That’s when we find their footprints on the sand. They leave behind a lot of turtle shells.”
“They are a people with no peace, restless because they are always on the run,” Padilha said.
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