Mashco-Piro, Isolated Peru Tribe, Makes Rare Appearance And Asks For Bananas And Weapons During Standoff With Rangers [VIDEO]

A group of people from Peru's Mashco-Piro tribe, who are notoriously reclusive and isolated, emerged from the jungles of Peru and made contact with local villagers. This news came as a shock and surprise to the government and local activists, as the tribe has been labeled as "uncontacted people" and have no contact with the outside world. The tribe has hundreds of members and is considered to be one of the most isolated tribes on the planet.

According to local activists, logging and urban development has had a detrimental effect on the tribe's natural habitat. In fact, logging is responsible for reducing the area in which the tribe can live. Perhaps it is due to the changing landscape of Peru, but the members of the tribe made their way to contact villagers to request food which raises questions about whether urban development has reduced their access to food.

Anthropolgist Beatriz Huertas reveals that the Mashco-Piro tribe has been spotted making its way through the jungle during the dry season, but they have never come so close to the village. "It could be they are upset by problems of others taking advantage of resources in their territories and for that reason were demanding objects and food of the population," she said. Estimates suggest there are 12,000 to 15,000 people living in the jungles east of the Andes that are considered to be "uncontacted."

The footage (see below) was filmed by a local rainforest campaign group AIDESEP in late June. According to the director of AIDESEP, Saul Puerta Pena, the government of Peru reportedly forbids people from directly contacting the tribe, as they supposedly do not have immune systems that are strong enough to cope with the germs that the average urbanized Peruvian carries. "There is a canoe sent by another remote indigenous community, which does not live in isolation, to send them food," he said. "But the tribe cannot come into contact with the remote community still because any illness could kill them."

As a result, there was a three-day standoff with rangers when hundreds of members of the tribe was initially spotted across the Las Piedras river across from the Monte Salvado community in the Tambopata region of the Madre de Dios state. But the tribe was making its way over to ask for bananas, in addition to rope and machetes from the local Yine people. There is no reports on whether their request was met.