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There are groups of Indigenous people living in parts of the Amazon rainforest that have had no contact with modern civilization. There may be as many as 100 uncontacted tribes with a combined total of several thousand individuals living in the Amazon rainforest.

Long houses of uncontacted groups
Long houses of uncontacted groups. Photo by Cristobal Von Rothkirch/ACT.

Colombia created a first-of-its-kind territory to protect a group of Indigenous people living away from regular contact with the rest of the world.

The territory is over 1-million-hectares (2.7-million-acres). It stretches between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers in Colombia. This territory protects the uncontacted Indigenous Yuri-Passé people,

The territory prohibits economic activities like mining. Part of the territory overlaps with Río Puré National Park. 

White-lipped peccary captured by wildlife camera traps. Courtesy of PNN Río Puré, Conservation International, and Amazon Conservation Team.

The new territory will protect the Yuri-Passé people and many species of plants and animals also. There are over 600 recorded species in the territory including the small cat called the oncilla, the peccary, the giant armadillo, and the giant anteater.

David Brown adapted this story for Mongabay Kids. It is based on an article by Maxwell Radwin, published on Mongabay News. 

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