Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Lex Clips
Topics: News, World News, Amazon
Kit Roberts
Newly released footage shows an uncontacted community in the Amazon rainforest in clearer images than ever before.
The community are called the Mashco Piro people, and they are estimated to consist of around 750 individuals.
They live in the Peruvian Amazon in a dense and inaccessible part of the rainforest close to the border with Brazil.
Countries which have uncontacted populations, such as Peru and Brazil, have laws in place protecting the areas inhabited by these communities, though these often do not provide full protection for land, and can be difficult to enforce in remote locations.
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Restrictions around contact mean that individuals in such communities are photographed from a long distance away, as getting too close could put them at risk of diseases to which they do not have natural immunity.
This means that previous images have generally been very grainy and of low quality, until now.
The latest images were shared by conservationist Paul Rosolie as well as podcaster Lex Fridman in an episode of the Lex Fridman podcast.
In the episode, which was posted to YouTube on January 14, the pair discussed the importance of the newly-shared footage of the community.
Rosolie said: “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.”
The conservationist has worked in the area for over two decades to preserve the animals, plants, and indigenous communities that live in the Amazon rainforest.
In the video, members of the community emerge onto a beach through a swarm of butterflies.
At first, they are in a formation, holding weapons as they observe the people who are filming them, before they appear to relax and become more curious.
Rosolie recalled the encounter, saying: “As they come closer, they start laying down their … See, he’s laying down his bow and arrow. They understand."
Some people online pointed out details which might suggest that the group was not entirely cut off from the outside world.
One said: “The rope around his head can be purchased at any hardware store.”
Meanwhile, another wrote: “Yes, yes, un-contacted tripe with fresh modern rope coiled around a bundle. Never touched by outsiders.
"Ssssh, we won’t tell people they’re trading with civilization.”
The Mashco Piro people are thought to be one of the largest uncontacted tribes, and their land is under threat from logging.
This has sparked calls for their land to be granted full legal protection.