Villagers in Bali are taking desperate measures to forestall an invasion by hungry monkeys who have been leaving their nearby sanctuary in search of the food they have gotten used to tourists bringing them.
Over the years, generous tourists who delighted in feeding the long-tailed macaque monkeys at the sanctuary near Sangeh, have apparently created a situation in which the primates no longer expect to find their own food. With tourists gone, they’ve been heading down the 500-meter road to town.
The invading monkeys, so far not a mass movement, hang out on village roofs, and when the time is right, swoop down to grab snacks, sometimes from someone’s hands. To avoid a mass invasion, the villagers have now taken to carrying fruit peanuts and other fruit to the sanctuary.
