Bali's monkeys got too smart and started running rackets (6 photos)

Begging for food is unproductive and humiliating, so the monkeys living in Bali decided. But stealing is not always productive, so the local monkeys switched to more serious and planned crimes.





It turns out that monkeys living in tourist areas can determine the value of things! And even steal the most expensive ones! This is what Indonesian scientists found out.



What is more valuable to a bespectacled person - a phone or glasses? The monkey knows for sure!

The smartest ones turned out to be long-tailed macaques that live near large temples, where the flow of tourists never stops. There they began to look for and steal the most valuable things of tourists in order to receive a ransom for them.

Scientists observed the monkeys for 273 days over three years. They photographed and classified each act of theft.

So, first of all, the monkey tries to steal the smartphone. Even if it is inexpensive, without it a person in a foreign country is like without hands.





My goodness, how cheap! A monkey looks reproachfully at a tourist with an inexpensive phone

In second place are glasses - they can be quite expensive.

But all sorts of trinkets, cheap Panama hats, even large hair clips, books and booklets, the monkeys almost completely stopped stealing. Because tourists are more likely to give up on the idea of trying to bring them back.

What will the insidious macaque demand in return?

The more valuable the item, the greater the ransom the monkey will demand. And she is never wrong.

The tourist should bring her treats and fruits, she will look and appreciate it. If it’s not enough, he will turn away and not take it.



Are you thinking of buying me for a tangerine? I'm worth at least three!

If a tourist does not understand sign language, then temple workers who are accustomed to such trade often come running to help.

On average, trading with a monkey thief lasts from 17 to 25 minutes. It’s interesting that a monkey will agree to one banana or other fruit for cheap glasses.

But offering a banana for a whole smartphone will be considered an insult and may even get angry with the tourist. The most expensive item to exchange to buy a smartphone was raw eggs.



If you steal a camera from a photographer, he will give ANYTHING for it. At least two packs of chips

Monkeys adore them, but tourists almost never bring them to the temple. Crackers come second, followed by fruit.

Sometimes I even had to go straight to the temple caretaker and ask:

- How much is normal to give? – tourists were afraid that the monkey would be offended by small gifts and break the smartphone.

Which, by the way, is what they threatened from afar to the tourists who were too reluctant to pay the ransom.



A temple caretaker is like a negotiator with a criminal gang.

It is noteworthy that only monkeys who grew up in the forest near temples have such a subtle understanding of economics. If the monkey left the forest as an adult and was able to join the locals, then he will never understand the intricacies of economics. He will give away smartphones for a pitiful banana. We laugh at her failure!

It turns out that even monkeys have their own “Mowgli children” who will no longer be able to socialize in modern society.

We are waiting for the next stage of evolution, when the temple monkeys begin to make and sell beads and amulets to tourists.