‘Uncontacted’ Amazon tribe kill two tree loggers using bow and arrow

A fatal clash between an “uncontacted” indigenous tribe and loggers has led to two deaths and two disappearances in Peru’s Amazon rainforest.

A fatal clash between an “uncontacted” indigenous tribe and loggers has led to two deaths and two disappearances in Peru’s Amazon rainforest.

The Mashco Piro people, thought to be the world’s biggest isolated tribe, have long avoided contact with the outside world.

The clash occurred on Thursday in an area of Madre de Dios while workers were opening a trail in the forest.

Two loggers are dead and two others are missing after being attacked by the tribe with arrows. Picture: Survival International

The loggers were fatally attacked by members of the tribe firing arrows – leaving two dead.

Two individuals are still missing after the clash.

The Ministry of Culture reported the incident on Monday and said it was investigating along with the prosecutor’s office and cops.

Pioneering indigenous organisation FENAMAD said in a statement the confrontation occurred in an area near the Pariamanu River – a part of the tribe’s territory.

Experts fears the tribe is moving out of the rainforest due to loggers in the region. Picture: Survival International

At least two workers have been killed by arrows, with another individual left injured and two missing.

But this is not the first time deadly clashes between the tribe and strangers have taken place.

More than four people, including workers and residents of the area, have died between 2015 and 2022 in clashes with the Mascho Piro, according to the Ministry of Culture.

The Mashco Piro, who inhabit an area located between two natural reserves in Madre de Dios, rarely appear and therefore have almost no communication with the outside world.

The Mashco Piro gather on the banks of the Las Piedras river in Peru on July 17. Picture: Survival International

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

One company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 190km 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, and has 130,000 acres of forests in Madre de Dios in which to extract cedar and mahogany.

The tribe have had almost no contact with the outside world. Picture: Survival International

Members of the Mashco Piro have been seen outside their territory in recent months and are under massive pressure from the logging industry, NGO Survival International reports.

The Peruvian government reported on June 28 local residents had reported seeing Mashco Piro on the Las Piedras river, 150km 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 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.

According to Survival, there are more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, although many are facing extinction as a result of habitat damage by outsiders.

Survival International warns that the Peruvian government has yet to sign into law certain indigenous domains on which these tribes rely for survival.

Contact with strangers can be fatal owing to exposure to new infections that isolated people would not have gained immunity against.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission