Amazon Tribe in Peru Now Hunting Humans with Arrows

For the second time in a month, members of an uncontacted tribe from the Peruvian Amazon have attacked humans, this time killing two loggers with bows and arrows. The incident occurred near the Pariamanu River in Madre de Dios province on August 29, but the news has only now been confirmed by FENAMAD, a federation representing the region’s indigenous tribes.

According to reports, women from the Mashco Piro tribe encountered workers clearing the forest for road construction. During the confrontation, two loggers were killed by arrows, and another person was injured. Two workers are still missing.

Survival International, an organization advocating for indigenous rights, has stated that this tragedy underscores the urgent need for the Peruvian government to officially recognize and protect the Mashco Piro tribe’s territory.

“This was an entirely preventable tragedy,” said Caroline Pearce, Director of Survival International. “Peruvian authorities have long known that the area they designated for logging is actually part of the Mashco Piro’s ancestral land.”

Pearce criticized the government for enabling logging activities in the region, which not only threatens the Mashco Piro people, who are highly vulnerable to diseases introduced by outsiders, but also puts the lives of the workers at risk.

 

Threats Facing the Mashco Piro Tribe

The Mashco Piro are nomadic hunter-gatherers residing in the southeastern rainforests of Peru. With an estimated population of 750 members, they are one of the largest uncontacted tribes in the world. Historically, the tribe has remained wary of outsiders due to past atrocities. In the late 19th century, colonial rubber barons in the western Amazon enslaved and brutalized thousands of indigenous people, including members of the Mashco Piro.

Today, the tribe faces new threats from logging and deforestation. Logging companies have encroached on areas of the forest dangerously close to the tribe’s habitat.

“The government must act immediately by canceling the logging concessions and protecting the Mashco Piro’s entire territory,” Pearce urged. “If they fail to do so, more tragedies are likely to occur.”