VIDEO: Violence feared as world's largest uncontacted Amazonian tribe comes out of the jungle

An Indigenous tribe in the Peruvian Amazon that has never been contacted has emerged from a rainforest amid threats of encroachments from the loggers. Photos and videos released by the human rights group Survival International show the Mashco Piro people walking out of a forest in southeast Peru. There are fears that the presence of loggers in the region can trigger violence between the tribe and the loggers. The videos and photos were taken in June.

Survival International says the Mashco Piro is the largest uncontacted tribe in the world. They were given a territorial reserve in 2002, but logging operations happening just a few miles from the place the tribe was seen has potentially spread fear amid the tribe. Notably, the Peruvian government gave concessions to a bunch of logging companies within the tribe's territory, setting up the stage for a clash between them.

The scenes are from the banks of the Las Piedras River in Monte Salvado located within the Madre de Dios province of Peru, bordering Bolivia and Brazil. According to Survival International, another 17 of them were seen near the neighbouring village of Puerto Nuevo, says.

Risks of the event involving the Mashco Piro tribe

Experts say that any kind of interaction between the tribe and the loggers can spread diseases among the tribal peoplewhich might "wipe out" the Mashco Piro. Alfredo Vargas Pio, president of regional Indigenous organization FENAMAD, said in a press release, “This is irrefutable evidence that many Mashco Piro live in this area, which the government has not only failed to protect but actually sold off to logging companies."

Pio stressed the need to recognise the territorial rights of the tribe.

"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," he said.

The human rights group recalled an earlier incident when, according to The Yine tribe, who are not isolated, the Mashco Piro "angrily denounced the presence of loggers on their land".

About the Mashco Piro tribe

The people of this tribe number a little over 750 and reside in the forests of southeast Peru, according to Survival International. Rosa Padilha of the Brazilian Catholic bishops' Indigenous Missionary Council in the Brazilian state of Acre, told Reuters that they were also seen across the border in Brazil.

"They flee from loggers on the Peruvian side," she said. "At this time of the year they appear on the beaches to take tracajá (Amazon turtle) eggs. That's when we find their footprints on the sand. They leave behind a lot of turtle shells."

"They are a people with no peace, restless, because they are always on the run," Padilha said.

This is not the first time that the people of the Mashco Piro tribe have felt threatened in their region. In 2011 and then again in 2013, NBC News reported that they emerged to grab the attention of the world.