This article is part of #DefenderSinMiedo, a journalist series developed by Agenda Propia in partnership with OjoPúblico.
In addition to forests, winding rivers and species that science has yet to discover, the Peruvian Amazon is also home to the meiri, squirrel whose tail seems to replicate in the hairstyle of Asheninka indigenous girls. For Jorge Ríos Pérez - a leader who was killed along with three others by illegal loggers on September 1, 2014 - the resemblance was undeniable: every time he saw his eldest daughter he thought of that elusive little animal, which is why he began to call her Meiri when she was a child.
