Reclusive Amazonian tribe fires ARROWS from bows at loggers after they strayed into their territory: 'A matter of life and death'

A reclusive hunter-gatherer tribe from Peru has reportedly resorted to using bows and arrows to attack loggers attempting to trespass on their territory. 

The Mashco Piro tribe was recently photographed searching for food on a beach in the Peruvian Amazon - amid fears their rainforest home is being increasingly hacked down by tree fellers. 

Rare video shows the group standing near the Las Piedras river in small clusters, some jogging to pick up large spears resting in the dirt. Others were seen talking, gesturing to each other and help carry objects along the river.

Since their sudden appearance, experts have fear the Madre de Dio inhabitants are being forced out of their home in the region and may retaliate against illegal operators - a prediction that appears to have come true. 

FENAMAD, a regional Indigenous organization that represents 39 communities in the Cusco and Madre de Dios regions confirmed that a lumberman was left injured after a group was logging illegally in the tribe's territory on July 27. 

'It is presumably illegal because the area where the incident occurred is a forestry concession that belonged to Wood Tropical Forest until November 2022 and we are not aware of a concession that has requested or granted enabling rights in the same area,' said a FENAMAD representative, speaking anonymously out of personal security concerns.

The organization says that a lack of protection measures by the Peruvian government and the increased illegal activity on the Mashco Piro territory could produce 'devastating consequences,' such as the transmission of diseases and increased violence.

Survival International, an advocacy group for Indigenous peoples which closely follows the Mashco Piro's issues has also been pushing the government to take action and control the increasingly dangerous situation.

'This is a permanent emergency. For the last month we have been seeing the Mascho Piro every two weeks at different points and in all of them they are surrounded by loggers,' Teresa Mayo, a researcher at Survival International told CBS News.

The Mashco Piro, who inhabit an area located between two natural reserves in Madre de Dios, are rarely seen and do not communicate much with outsiders. 

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

One such company, Canales Tahuamanu, has built more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) of roads for its logging trucks to extract timber, according to Survival International.

The company is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, according to which it has 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres) of forests in Madre de Dios to extract cedar and mahogany.

In 2022, members of the Mashco Piro tribe shot two Catahua workers with bows and arrows while fishing on the Tahuamanu River, killing one.

As a result, Survival International is also calling on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to withdraw its certifications of Catahua's operations - and petitioning for support to help protect uncontacted tribes.

Alfredo Vargas Pio, President of local Indigenous organization said: '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 is a humanitarian disaster in the making – it's absolutely vital that the loggers are thrown out, and the Mashco Piro's territory is properly protected at last.

'The FSC must cancel its certification of Canales Tahuamanu immediately – failure to do so will make a mockery of the entire certification system.'