Auctioning off unknown tribes

Little-known tribe spotted in Peru’s AmazonHon said an indigenous group using the same kind of huts was seen in the region in the 1980s, and advocacy groups said they appeared to be part of the Mascho Piro tribe.

The sighting of the indigenous group comes as Peru's government is encouraging foreign companies to look for oil in the rainforest.

Environmental and Indian rights groups firmly oppose the exploration in the remote jungle area about 550 miles (900km) east of Lima, the South American country's coastal capital.

Indigenous people who have shunned contact with the rest of society are believed to live within some of the dozens of parcels being auctioned across the country for petroleum prospecting, some of them in the Amazon.