What we know about uncontacted Amazonian tribe after never-before-seen footage sparks wild theories

This is what we know about a new community in the Amazon rainforest, which has just seen new images emerge.

The Mashco Piro tribe, estimated to have 750 members, lives in the Peruvian Amazon, near the border with Brazil.

They are just one of an estimated 196 uncontacted tribes worldwide, according to Survival International, which also includes the Sentinelse on North Sentinel Island.

The tribe is also said to be one of the largest uncontacted peoples.

Recently, pictures of the Mashco Piro people were shown on the Lex Fridman podcast by conservationist Paul Rosolie, with the tribe seen emerging from the forest to walk across the beach.

Rosolie told Fridman: "The only thing you’ve ever seen are these blurry images … from 100 meters away … and we’re sitting there with, you know, 800mm with a 2x teleconverter."

But who are the Mashco Piro tribe, and what do we know about them?

Footage shows a clearer image of the Mashco Piro tribe (YouTube/Lex Clips)

Who are the Mashco Piro people?

According to Survival International, the community has a strong history of survival, as during the 'Rubber Boom' of the 1880s, when barons invaded the Amazon, enslaving thousands of Indigenous people and stealing their lands.

However, some of the Mashco Piro escaped and hid in the forests, and the current tribe is their descendants.

The community is also called the 'Nomole' and speaks a language similar enough to those of neighbouring communities that they can communicate with them.

Survival International said that, as of 2024, they had been observed asking the neighbouring Yine tribe for machetes or cooking pots, or taking vegetables from their gardens.

Why are the Mashco Piro people rarely seen?

The Mashco Piro tribe has cut itself off from the outside world for more than half a century, with those who live near them rarely seeing them.

In 2025, Tomas Chavez Loma, who lives in the nearby village of Nueva Oceania, was working in a small clearing when a member of the tribe approached him.

He told the BBC: "One was standing, aiming with an arrow. And somehow he noticed I was here and I started to run."

He recalled that they started 'imitating animals', as well as 'circling and whistling', adding: "I kept saying: 'Nomole' (brother). Then they gathered, they felt closer, so we headed toward the river and ran."

Many indigenous communities are threatened by logging (luoman/Getty)

Do the Mashco Piro have legal protection?

Countries with uncontacted communities, such as Brazil and Peru, do have legal protections in place for those groups.

According to the BBC, in 2016, a government bill was passed to extend the Mashco Piro's reserve, but this was never signed into law.

However, often these don't provide full protection for the land and are very difficult to enforce in the extremely remote locations where these communities live.

Not only that, but some governments, for example, the former government of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, even planned to roll back these protections, claiming that they got in the way of economic growth.

What are the threats facing the Mashco Piro?

One of the main threats facing numerous indigenous tribes is deforestation, something which the Mashco Piro community are currently dealing with.

According to The Guardian, members of the tribe were seen entering a neighbouring village in an unusual move and were also spotted near active logging sites.

And in 2024, two loggers were attacked by the Mashco Piro tribe with bows and arrows, leaving one logger injured.

As well as their homes being destroyed, there's also the potential for the tribe to be exposed to illnesses that they've got little to no immunity against, like the flu, for example.

A 2025 paper titled 'Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples: at the edge of survival' said that tribes are similarly at risk of exploitation, as there have been documented incidents of people attempting to contact the tribes to 'put them on YouTube'.