Rare video shows uncontacted Mashco Piro tribe in Amazon rainforest

Members of an uncontacted indigenous tribe were recently seen on a riverbank in a remote part of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest amid the increasing presence of loggers. 

A rare video shared by the indigenous rights group Survival International shows dozens of people from the Mashco Piro tribe, which the organization believes to be the largest uncontacted tribe in the world.

In recent days, more than 50 members of the Mashco Piro tribe have appeared near Monte Salvado — a village of the Yine people in southeast Peru, Survival International said. In a separate incident, another group of 17 appeared near the neighboring village of Puerto Nuevo. 

A photo shared by the indigenous rights group Survival International shows dozens of people from the Mashco Piro tribe recently seen on a riverbank near Monte Salvado — a village of the Yine people – in southeast Peru. Credit: Survival International

"The Yine, who are not uncontacted, speak a language related to Mashco Piro, and have previously reported that the Mashco Piro angrily denounced the presence of loggers on their land," the organization said in a statement. 

There are at least 20 uncontacted tribes living in the remote Peruvian Amazon, according to Survival International. 

Who are the Mashco Piro people?

A photo shared by the indigenous rights group Survival International shows dozens of people from the Mashco Piro tribe recently seen on a riverbank near Monte Salvado — a village of the Yine people – in southeast Peru. Credit: Survival International

The Mashco Piro are believed to be the largest uncontacted tribe on Earth, numbering more than 750 people, according to Survival International. The tribe lives deep in the rainforests of southeast Peru.

"Having survived a traumatic history of massacres and enslavement, they’ve made their determination to defend their territory very clear," the group says on its website.

In 2002, the Mashco Piro people were given a territorial reserve, but the Peruvian government has also given timber concessions to several logging companies within the tribe's territory, Survival International said.

The nearest operation is just a few miles from where the Mashco Piro were filmed, Survival International said. The group has called on the international nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council to withdraw its certification of the nearby company’s operations. 

A photo shared by the indigenous rights group Survival International shows dozens of people from the Mashco Piro tribe recently seen on a riverbank near Monte Salvado — a village of the Yine people – in southeast Peru. Credit: Survival International

Loggers and indigenous people interacting bring many risks, according to Alfredo Vargas Pio, president of the local Indigenous organization FENAMAD.

"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," Vargas Pio said in a statement.

"The logging workers could bring in new diseases which would wipe out the Mashco Piro, and there’s also a risk of violence on either side, so it’s very important that the territorial rights of the Mashco Piro are recognized and protected in law."

This story was reported from Cincinnati.