Bali Monkeys Start Invading People’s Houses As They Run Out Food Supply

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Monkeys at the Ubud Monkey Forest began to invade residents’ houses as they started to run out of food supply.

Officials from Padang Tegal Village, Made Gandra confirmed that several monkeys who have been living inside Ubud Monkey Forest were spotted roaming around outside the area to search for some food. “Since the management of Ubud Monkey Forest started to run out of money to feed the monkeys, the primates from the place that used to have plenty of food before the Covid-19 pandemic struck began to invade the nearby villagers’ houses to find food.” Gandra said on Monday (6/9).

  Gandra explained, from a total of 3 different groups of monkeys inside the forest, the first group that used to live in the deepest part of the forest began to move out, and confronted the other groups during their attempt to find a food source. As a result, the group of monkeys that used to live at the outer area decided to leave the area and come into the residents’ area as they were unable to defend themselves from the other group.

Gandra also said that management has been struggling to feed the monkeys since the travel restriction was implemented, causing them to lose their financial ability to run the  tourist attraction and feed the animals. “It costs around USD 8,300 (IDR 120 million) to feed the monkeys every month, and we’ve been struggling to do so the last several months.” Gandra added. Apart from that, he also admitted that they also began struggling to pay the workers to maintain the facility. “We decided to reduce our employees working hours to reduce our operating costs while waiting for the cash assistance that we have requested from the regional government.” Gandra concluded.