With no tourist handouts, hungry Bali monkeys raid homes
Associated PressSANGEH, Indonesia — Deprived of their preferred food source — the bananas, peanuts and other goodies brought in by tourists now kept away by the coronavirus — hungry monkeys on the resort island of Bali have taken to raiding villagers’ homes in their search for something tasty. “We are afraid that the hungry monkeys will turn wild and vicious,” villager Saskara Gustu Alit said. “This prolonged pandemic is beyond our expectations,” Made Mohon said, “Food for monkeys has become a problem.” Food costs run about 850,000 rupiah a day, Made Mohon said, for 200 kilograms of cassava, the monkeys’ staple food, and 10 kilograms of bananas. “When I parked my car and took out two plastic bags containing food and flowers as offerings, two monkeys suddenly appeared and grabbed it all and ran into the forest very fast.” Normally, the monkeys spend all day interacting with visitors — stealing sunglasses and water bottles, pulling at clothes, jumping on shoulders — and Gustu Alit theorizes that more than just being hungry, they’re bored.
History of this topic
Bali Monkey Forest horror caught on camera: 2 tourists die as massive tree comes crashing down
Hindustan Times
Massive tree falls on tourists in Bali's Monkey Forest. Video horrifies Internet
India Today
730 and counting: Lion-tailed macaques fight all odds in Uttara Kannada
New Indian Express
Monkeys in central Thailand city mark their day with feast
The Hindu
With no tourist handouts, hungry Bali monkeys raid homes
LA TimesDiscover Related
