Rare footage of tribe emerging from Amazon

Extraordinary new images show dozens of members of one of the world’s most secluded tribes in the Peruvian Amazon emerge from the rainforest.

Remarkable new footage shows members of one of the world’s most secluded tribes – which is known for firing arrows at outsiders who get too close – emerging from the rainforest in Peru near several controversial logging sites.

Members of the Mashco Piro tribe, believed to be the biggest group of indigenous people living with no outside contact, were spotted near the Las Piedras River a few kilometres from tree-cutting projects in Southeastern section of the country, the Indigenous rights advocacy group Survival International said.

Members of the Mashco Piro Indigenous community, a reclusive tribe and one of the world’s most withdrawn, gather on the banks of the Las Piedras river. Picture: Survival International

The tribe has been seen coming out of the rainforest more frequently in search of food. Picture: Survival International

“This is irrefutable evidence that many Mashco Piro live in this area, which the government has not only failed to protect, but actually sold off to logging companies,” local Indigenous organisation Fenamad’s President Alfredo Vargas Pio said.

The tribe emerged in search of food, near the remote villages of Monte Salvado and Puerto Nuevo, in recent weeks – and Pio fears fights will break out between loggers and the Indigenous people.

Despite the Mashco Piro tribe’s seclusion, they have had limited contact with outsiders — and much of it was violent. Picture: Survival International

Loggers could also bring to the area new diseases, which threaten to wipe out the tribe, he said.

Indigenous advocates are demanding authorities yank certification from the nearby logging company Canales Tahuamanu, which building roads inside Mashco Piro territory, according to Survival International.

The company has been granted permission to log on the jungle land since 2002 and its activity now is now sprawled out over 193 square miles, The Washington Post reported in May.

The firm also has a history of clashing with local tribes, the paper reported.

The extraordinary new images were released on Wednesday. Picture: Survival International

Campaigners say they’re a graphic illustration of the urgent need to revoke all the logging licenses in the area, and recognise that the territory belongs to the Mashco Piro people. Picture: Survival International

Survival believes they’re the largest uncontacted tribe in the world. Picture: Survival International

Despite the Mashco Piro tribe’s seclusion, they have had limited contact with outsiders – and much of it was violent.

In recent years they have been seen firing arrows at tourist boats and even fired a “warning arrow” at a park ranger in Manu National Park.

The violence reached its apex, however, when tribe members killed a member of another tribe, Nicolas “Shaco” Flores, who had been trying to contact them.

However, some members of the tribe have emerged from the forest to try and trade for machetes and food with residents of nearby villages and Christian proselytisers.

Catahua did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the past, the firm said its workers have never reported seeing any Mashco Piro people and has complied with laws in Peru, where it is illegal to contact the tribe.

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Last year, the United Nation’s special rapporteur on Indigenous rights asked Catahua to halt logging and respond to allegations of “possible forced contact” with the Mashco Piro. The government has declined to intervene in the past.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission