The Bartering Monkeys of Bali | Planet Earth III | BBC Earth

At the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, the long-tailed macaques that live there are infamous for stealing tourist's possessions. But it's not just playground tomfoolery – these monkeys use the stolen goods to barter for their supper.

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[samuelshafritz]

The best part is the camera crew knowing someone is about to be jacked, and rather than warn them of the threat they zoom in on the shot

[jametalboy]

The best part was, HOW DARE YOU??? to bargain a smartphone with the banana... Monkey got the imported KitKat chocolate bar and left the phone...😁

[steviewanderer]

Old mate has ascended to the title of Godfather. Running his own little monkey mafia 😆 Respect!

[alexanderj.]

Sometimes the barter goes a bit different. At that very spot in Bali I once saw a monkey snatch some expensive glasses from a dude much like in this video, and when a Balinese guy came to offer it a banana, the monkey took it with one hand while holding the glasses in the other. Then it thought for a moment, realised it needed the other hand to peel the banana, took one last look at the glasses and tossed them right off that cliff into the ocean. That was one long and spectacular fall, everyone was laughing. The guy who owned the glasses tried to laugh along but you could tell how much he was mourning his loss.

[penguasakucing]

I was there, lost a pair of shades and a tube of sunscreen myself. I didn't give them anything, so they break the shades, twisted it like a pretzel, and throw it away. Could be worse, I saw a Korean girl losing her brand new, top of the line smartphone down the cliffs. No ransoming that one back. There was also an Indian mom choked while getting her necklace yanked off. The chain was too strong, both fortunately and unfortunately.
A domestic tourist from Surabaya tried to ransom back his glasses immediately with his box of fried chicken meal, but the monkeys seemed to not understand that because the meal is in a box. He ended up paying a local granny to ransom those with a banana, something the monkey understands.

The view is wonderful, but the experience is one under a looming sense of terror and insecurity from the monkeys.

[ziwer]

This is insane.. an actual monkey mafia.

[Zelkyplant]

What happens when they figure out you can steal money and go to a store and buy food. Worldwide monkey crime syndicate.

[cherrieaulait]

I'm not sure that's bartering, more like ransoming. They are literally stealing & holding the items to ransom! They seem to study what is most precious to the humans! 😅

[wm]

that is not bargaining! that is ransoming!

[uRon]

3:05 Hahahah the way he is chilling and eating chips XD what a legend

[lputaa]

My father once brought my mum a very rare watch he got it from a monkey... I found it hard to believe until I saw this

[imMazn]

Other people: “Oh, that’s so cute! It took someone’s stuff and it wants to trade!”
Me: “Hey monkey, I’ll give you chocolate, a bag of chips, and a banana for an iPhone 15 and a pair of Ray-Bans. Show me what you got.”
😂🐒

[Eggs_hatching]

wear contacts, lace up shoes, travelers pouch under your clothes, no phones out, no camera, no hats, no sunglasses XD
Monke proof yourself

[Khalil.]

"I don't care about your smartphone, give me a chocolate bar and we're good."

"I'm worth more than a banana... How dare you?!!"

[onlyme]

The one eating the Pringles at the end, really made me giggle :)

[arifsaifee]

The monkey @3:07 savoring potato chips from a can - priceless

[xsnuwgr]

As a monke I can confirm this is what we do for living

[jool]

This shows me that organized crime has been around since before we evolved into humans.

[jessicag]

I was told by the locals that you have to bring along sticks to scare them away, any sticks, walking sticks, large enough tree branch. They said you have to hit it to the ground and shout when they approach before they steal anything. You should not bring out hats, phones, and glasses in monkey areas (such as Ubud if I'm not mistaken).

[marianitosan]

I was a “victim" of this con in 1997 😂. Funny thing is that the ground keepers are the ones with the food to barter (in my case two bags of peanuts) Both monkeys and men are in the racket together. These men expect a cash tip after they hand the monkeys the food.