 At least fifteen were killed in this attack, which is thought to have been motivated by the knowledge that if the Akuntsu were officially contacted the forest would be declared an indigenous reserve and closed off to logging and cattle ranching.A FUNAI team had been attempting to make contact with isolated indigenous groups in Corumbiara since 1985, following reports made the previous year.Farmers in the area, however, consistently denied the presence of any indigenous people in the area and FUNAI issued the opinion that if uncontacted tribes had been there, they had since moved on.