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A fly-over of a remote part of the Amazon rainforest spotted members of what is believed to be one of the world's last uncontacted tribes.  The Amazonians reacted aggressively to the helicopter fly-over, with bow and arrows aimed at the plane, according to Survival International, a group that works to protect indigenous peoples.
"These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist," said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International. "The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct."
The aerial survey was in response to development pressures in the region. Loggers in Peru are displacing indigenous groups living in the Peru-Brazil border region. We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist," said José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior, an uncontacted tribes expert from FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department. "This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence."
The Brazilian government says that anthropologists have been aware of the group for about 20 years but that little is known about them.
Meirelles told The Associated Press (AP) that researchers suspect the group is related to the Tano and Aruak tribes. The band may have isolated itself following interaction with miners, loggers, or rubber tappers who often make their way deep into the Amazon rainforest.
"It's a choice they made to remain isolated or maintain only occasional contacts, but these tribes usually obtain some modern goods through trading with other Indians," anthropologist Bernardo Beronde told the AP.  Painted red and ready to fight
Survival International says that the behavior of the tribe makes it clear they want to remain uncontacted.
Speaking with the Mail Online, Survival's Miriam Ross said tribe members were not painted during the first overflight of their village. During later overflights the tribe appeared ready to fight, carrying weapons and painted red.
"Tribes in the Amazon paint themselves for all kinds of different reasons - one of which includes when they feel threatened or are aggressive," Ross was quoted as saying. "And they are almost certain to feel threatened by or aggressive towards a plane, which was where the photos were taken from. They are almost certain not to understand what the plane is - perhaps a spirit or a large bird.
"The jungle is fundamental to their lives and survival. It's their home, their source of food, the source of their culture etc. Without it, they could not exist as a people."
 Uncontacted groups increasingly rare
Survival International estimates they are more than one hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide — with more than half living in either Brazil or Peru — but says these groups are at risk of displacement by developers, miners, and colonists.
While the Brazilian government used to make efforts to contact such groups, today its policy is to isolate them for their own protection. Should they want contact with the outside world it is their own decision.
FUNAI estimates that are as many as 68 "uncontacted" groups in the country, but only 24 have been officially confirmed, according to the AP.
Uncontacted tribes are particularly vulnerable to disease to which they have no resistance. In the past, first contact with the outside world has lead to large-scale die-offs of indigenous people. For example, some anthropologists believe diseases introduced by European explorers in the 15th and 16th century may have killed off more than 90 percent of the indigenous population living in the Americas. Some of the only groups to survive were those who lived or moved deep in the Amazon rainforest.
More recently, at least half the Murunahua tribe in Peru died of colds and other diseases following their first contact with the outside world in 1996, according to David Hill of Survival International. The Yanomamo tribe in the Venezuela-Brazil border area suffered similar losses when miners invaded their territory in the 1970s and 1980s.  Brazil has some 350,000 Indians — the majority of whom live on indigenous reserves which cover nearly 13 percent of the country and 26 percent of the Brazilian Amazon. The extent of Indian territories is almost double the size of all state and federal protected areas and have been shown to be effective in reducing deforestation and the incidence of fire.
Still forest loss in Brazil continues to be substantial, especially as agricultural Growing agricultural production in the Amazon means that commodity prices are increasingly linked with forest clearing. As grain and beef prices surged in the second half of 2007, so did deforestation: after a three-year decline in forest loss, deforestation rates more than doubled between August 2007 and the end of the year. Ambitious plans for new infrastructure projects in the region are expected to drive further agricultural expansion.
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