Mashco-Piro tribe behavior baffles Peru officials

Frank Bajak, Associated Press

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

D.Cortijo / Associated Press

Members of the Mashco-Piro tribe of Amazon Indians, photographed near Manu National Park in Peru's southeast, normally have no contact with outsiders.

More News

• Facebook files for highly anticipated IPO 02.02.12
• UCSF scientists declare war on sugar in food 02.02.12
• 5-star linemen key Stanford's recruiting class 02.02.12
• Cal's Tedford wants to put focus on recruits 02.02.12

Lima, Peru -- Peruvian authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from a clan of previously isolated Amazon Indians who began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with environmental tourists last year.

The behavior of the small group of Mashco-Piro Indians has puzzled scientists, who say it may be related to the encroachment of loggers and by low-flying aircraft from nearby natural gas and oil exploration in the southeastern region of the country.

Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in Madre de Dios state where officials say the Indians were first seen in May.

One badly wounded a forest ranger in October. The next month, another pierced the heart of a local Matsiguenka Indian, killing Nicolas "Shaco" Flores, who had long maintained a relationship with the Mashco-Piro.

The advocacy group Survival International released photos Tuesday showing clan members on the riverbank, describing the pictures as the "most detailed sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera."

The British-based group provided the photos exactly a year after releasing aerial photos from Brazil of another tribe classified as uncontacted, one of about 100 such groups it says exist around the world.

One of the Mashco-Piro photos was taken by a bird-watcher in August, Survival International said. The other two were shot by Spanish archaeologist Diego Cortijo on Nov. 16, six days before Flores was killed.

Cortijo, a member of the Spanish Geographical Society, was visiting Flores while on an expedition in search of petroglyphs and said clan members appeared across the river from Flores' house, calling for him by name.

Flores could communicate with the Mashco-Piro because he spoke two related dialects, said Cortijo, who added that Flores had previously provided clan members with machetes and cooking pots.

The Mashco-Piro tribe is believed to number in the hundreds and lives in the Manu National Park that borders Diamante, a community of more than 200 people where Flores lived.

The clan that showed up at the river is believed to number about 60, including about 25 adults, said Carlos Soria, a professor at Lima's Catholic University who ran Peru's park protection agency last year.