Long-tailed macaques in Bali are accustomed to human presence in their territories, especially in popular tourist areas like Uluwatu Temple, where they interact with tourists on a daily basis. As a result, these monkeys are infamous for their mischievous behavior, particularly their tendency to steal items.
Driven by their natural curiosity and intelligence, these monkeys associate tourists with a potential source of food and interesting objects. They’ve learned that certain items—hats and sunglasses, for example—are valuable to humans, and the macaques’ dexterous hands allow them to grab and run away before people can react.
Many tourists are willing to negotiate when their items are held hostage, but hats and sunglasses aren’t always worth recovery. As Sir David Attenborough explains in this clip from Planet Earth III, “there are greater rewards to be had for those who know how to get them.”
“This old male appears to be doing very well. He and the other elders in this troop have both experience and knowledge. They’ve been working the temple for over 10 years and now concentrate on the big stuff: No one wants to walk home with just one shoe. And these old boys can’t wait to get their hands on the latest tech. The older males understand something the youngsters have yet to learn – ‘the art of the deal.'”
Watch more videos about macaques on TKSST:
• Long-tail macaques use stone tools to open shells
• Lion-tailed macaques compete with Malabar squirrels for ripe jackfruit
• Jigokudani Yaen-koen: Snow Monkeys (Japanese macaques)
• The communal support within Crested Black Macaque monkey troops
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