Twenty-one Indians in one photo, one woman in another. Peer closely and her message to the outside world is clear: ‘Keep away!’

‘It is like the Loch Ness monster. Everyone seems to have seen or heard about uncontacted peoples, but there is no evidence,’ said a spokesperson from Peru’s state oil company. Have you ever seen photos of the Loch Ness monster as good as these? I don’t think so.

Of course, there are many more than just these uncontacted Indians in Peru, and all of them have made it clear, time and time again, they don’t want contact with outsiders. And certainly not with loggers, or oil companies. How would you like it if a stranger turned up one day and said they would chop down or dynamite your home?

This recent sighting has been picked up by media all around the world. See this video footage on the BBC, or an article in The Guardian that Survival contributed to.

For all the world to see, then, but this is as close as any of us should ever get – until the people themselves decide otherwise.

More about Peru’s isolated Indians.