Rare images of the Mashco Piro, an uncontacted indigenous tribe in the remote Peruvian Amazon, have been published by Survival International, showing dozens of the people on the banks of a river close to where logging companies have concessions.
The reclusive tribe has been sighted coming out of the rainforest more frequently in recent weeks in search of food, apparently moving away from the growing presence of loggers, said local indigenous rights group FENAMAD.
The Mashco Piro were photographed at the end of last month on the banks of a river in the Madre de Dios region in southeast Peru near the border with Brazil, Survival International said as it released the photos on Tuesday.
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“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.
More than 50 Mashco Piro people appeared in recent days near a village of the Yine people called Monte Salvado. Another group of 17 appeared by the nearby village of Puerto Nuevo, said the non-government organisation, which defends indigenous rights.
The Mashco Piro, who inhabit an area between two natural reserves in Madre de Dios, have seldom appeared as a rule and do not communicate much with the Yine or anyone else, according to Survival International.
Several logging companies hold timber concessions inside the territory inhabited by the Mashco Piro.
One company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 200km 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 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, 150km from the city of Puerto Maldonado, the capital of Madre de Dios.
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