Monkeys ‘running a scam’ at sacred temple, frustrated tourists say after phone thefts

Monkeys have been stealing tourists’ valuables — including their phones and wallets — in exchange for food rewards at a popular, cliff-side temple in Bali, Indonesia.

The mischievous, long-tailed macaques have been stealing visitors’ belongings for decades, holding them ransom to trade with humans for food, according to primate researchers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Around 600 monkeys live at Bali’s Uluwatu Temple, a Hindu temple that overlooks the Indian Ocean. Many locals consider the primates to be sacred guardians of the spiritual site, which dates back to around the 10th or 11th century, according to the WSJ.

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Some of the thieving monkeys can even differentiate between objects of high value to humans — like phones and glasses — and items humans do not value as much, such as hair clips and hats, the WSJ reported.

The primates have “unprecedented economic decision-making processes,” according to a University of Lethbridge team that filmed and analyzed hundreds of hours of footage of the macaques.

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Many of Uluwatu’s theft incidents require the assistance of “pawang,” monkey handlers who offer fruits to the animals in exchange for the stolen goods. The monkeys steal dozens of items from tourists each week, including five to 10 smartphones every day, according to the WSJ, citing monkey handler Ketut Ariana. 

“The monkeys have taken over the temple,” Jonathan Hammé, a London tourist whose sunglasses were stolen by a macaque, told the WSJ. “They’re running a scam.”

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Taylor Utley, a 36-year-old tourist from Kentucky, said a monkey stole her phone out of her hand while she was visiting Uluwatu Temple last year. To help get it back, a monkey handler had to repeatedly give the primate bags of fruit until it dropped Utley’s phone, the WSJ reported.

“I was taken aback,” Utley said. “It’s like a criminal enterprise of monkeys.”

In an attempt to stop the thefts, Uluwatu Temple has implemented different feeding schedules for the monkeys and has offered them different food. However, it has not helped, according to the WSJ, citing Kadek Ari Astawa, who coordinates the monkey handlers. 

Atsawa said he heard that when the temple first opened to visitors, tourists would sometimes feed the macaques. But once temple management restricted tourists from feeding them, the primates began stealing their belongings, the WSJ reported.

In November, residents in a South Carolina town were advised to close their windows and doors after 43 rhesus macaque monkeys escaped a testing facility.