[7] The Ayoreo people are known by numerous names including Ayoré, Ayoreode, Guarañoca, Koroino, Moro, Morotoco, Poturero, Pyeta Yovai, Samococio, Sirákua, Takrat, Yanaigua and Zapocó.

[8] The Ayoreo were first contacted when the Jesuits started the San Ignacio Zamuco mission in the 1720s to convert the people to Catholicism.

[14][15] Ayoreo children were stolen during this time, including a twelve-year-old named Iquebi who was taken to be put in an exhibit.

[7][13][16] Against the teachings of Jesus Christ, missionaries used force and manipulation to remove the Ayoreo from their land to various mission stations in the late 1950s.

[7] While at the mission stations, the Ayoreo had to adopt a sedentary lifestyle and give up their culture, including their religion, appearance, music, and diet.

[14] In 2010, an expedition in search of new species of plants and insects, organized by the Natural History Museum in London, was suspended when concerns were raised that Ayoreo people might be encountered and disturbed.

[7] They are nomadic hunter-gatherers, but in the rainy season they plant small amounts of crops, including corn, beans, and squash.

[18][19] They hunt anteaters, pigs, tortoises, and monkeys in the forest and collect honey from the Quebecois tree.

[11][21] Ayoreo prostitutes are at a high risk for HIV, and they sometimes hide their condition and do not seek treatment in order to avoid discrimination from their community.

[7][11] However, the settlements tend to be slums with poor conditions, such as houses made of mud and cane.

[7][11] Discrimination is especially prevalent in the healthcare system, where Ayoreo people have to wait for extended periods of time to be seen, which can lead them to avoid seeking treatment.

[7] Cattle farming and the subsequent deforestation is often illegal, destroys territory and resources such as water, and increases the chance of unwanted contact.

[7] By trying to evangelize the Ayoreo, missionaries risk spreading diseases and violate laws protecting indigenous peoples from contact.

[7] The violation of territories occurs when groups enter Ayoreo land without permission, creating a great risk of contact, and can displace the people living there.

[10] While they were living in the forest, they struggled to avoid contact, forced to flee from any sign of outsiders and had to communicate by whistles to keep from being heard.

[10] Lucas Bessire recorded one story of the time before contact from a member of the Areguede’urasade that reflects the traumatic experience the people suffered:“We saw tracks.

[10] When the two tribes became one, the Areguede’urasade were forced to give up their culture, convert to Christianity, and perform servile tasks for the initial Totobiegosode group.

[10] In Bolivia, the Ayoreo people are represented by the organization CANOB (Central Ayorea Nativa del Oriente Boliviano).

[7] UNAP and the NGO Iniciativa Amotocodie (IA) monitor Ayoreo territory to confirm the presence of groups in isolation through signs such as holes cut in trees to collect honey.