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Tourists have stopped coming to Bali, and the monkeys are raiding the village to get food
The macaque monkeys in the sanga forest are accustomed to a stream of tourists pampering them with various foods, and due to the corona plague, Indonesian authorities have stopped flights to the island.
The local temple has less food to feed them, and instead they steal food from the locals
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Sunday, 05 September 2021, 15:50
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(Photo: AP)
Without their favorite food source - bananas, peanuts and other foods brought by tourists who are no longer due to the corona plague - hungry monkeys on the island of Bali raid residents' homes in search of delicious food. Residents of the village of Sanga say that the long-tailed macaque monkeys emerge from a temple about 500 meters away to the roofs of the house, waiting for the right moment to break in and steal a snack.
Fearing that the random visits would turn into a total monkey attack on the village, residents brought fruit, bots and other food to the Sanga monkey forest. They hope it will please them. "We are afraid that the hungry monkeys will become wild and cruel," said Saskara villager Gusto Elite. About 600 macaque monkeys live in a temple in the forest, hanging on the tops of the tall trees and jumping into a fertile Bukit Sari temple. They are considered saints.
On weekdays, the protected forest in the southeast of the Indonesian island is a popular destination among the residents being photographed ahead of their wedding, as well as among international tourists.
The monkeys, relatively tamed, are easy to seduce and in exchange for a peanut or two, they sit on the shoulder or in a tourist's lap.
Before the plague, more than five million tourists used to visit Bali every year, where about four million people live.
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(Photo: AP)
The Sanga monkey forest is usually visited by about 6,000 people a month, but since the spread of the corona last year and the reduction of international tourism, the number has dropped to about 500. Since July, when Indonesia stopped all foreign tourism to the island and closed the temple to locals as well, no one has come.
The temple director, Mada Mohun, said not only is there no surplus food, but the funding the place receives has stopped and there is little money left to purchase food for the monkeys. According to him, the donations from the villagers have helped, but they themselves are suffering from financial distress and they are giving less and less. "This prolonged plague is beyond our expectations," the temple director said. "Monkey food has become a problem." According to him, food prices are around 850,000 rupees a day (about $ 60).
The macaque monkeys are omnivores, and they feed on a variety of animals and plants found in the jungle.
However, those living in the Sanga forest have had prolonged contact with humans, so they seem to prefer other foods - and according to Gusto Elite, they are also not afraid to take matters into their own hands.
The monkeys are not only hungry, but bored
Recently, monkeys have been roaming the village and settling on the roofs of houses, occasionally removing shingles and dropping them to the ground.
When residents take out food offerings and leave them on their balconies, the monkeys jump down and take them.
“A few days ago I attended a traditional ceremony at a temple near a sanga forest,” Gusto Elite said.
"When I parked my car and took out two plastic bags with food and flowers, suddenly two monkeys came and grabbed everything and ran very fast to the forest."
Usually, monkeys interact with tourists throughout the day - from stealing sunglasses and water bottles to pulling on clothes and jumping on their shoulders - and Gusto Elite believes that more than they are just hungry, monkeys are bored.
"That's why I called on the villagers to come to the forest, play with the monkeys and offer them food," he said.
"I think they need to interact with humans as often as possible so they don't get riotous."
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