Monkeys tamed by tourists rob and injure travelers. How to avoid monkey attacks while traveling? – A rest

The insurance technology company Balcia often receives customer applications about monkey attacks experienced during travel – the tamed animals not only take people’s glasses, phones and other valuables, but also tend to bite or injure travelers in some other way. Kaspars Elcis, the creator of the travel blog TripThis, tells in which countries you can most often encounter aggressive monkeys and how to avoid them.

“During the trip, a monkey stole my glasses”, “two monkeys jumped on my head and I broke part of my front tooth out of fright”, “a wild monkey put its foot in my mouth, so I needed a vaccine against rabies”, “in the monkey park in Bali I gave one of they got a banana, but it bit me” – such and similar stories appear quite often in travel insurance claim applications, says Balcia compensation manager Dāvids Lövalds. He states that most often monkeys bite and scratch travelers or steal their belongings, causing losses of up to several hundred euros.

Kaspars Elcis, the creator of the travel blog TripThis, explains that travelers are most often faced with monkey attacks in Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and India, while Gibraltar is the only place in Europe where a family of wild monkeys can be found and such attacks on tourists often happen. “The population of wild monkeys in these areas is increasing rapidly and the animals are used to humans and are no longer afraid of them. The main reasons why monkeys attack people are food and other goodies that can be obtained from tourists,” says Kaspars Elcis. These monkeys are smart – they have learned that they can steal food or other things from tourists, which can then be exchanged for food.

How to avoid monkey attacks?

No matter how tempting it may seem to get a selfie with a monkey, Kaspars Elcis recommends keeping a distance from them and not trying to approach, touch or take a picture together: “It would be advisable to avoid eye contact and showing teeth, because monkeys perceive these signals as aggression. Monkeys can also perceive rapid movements and shouting as a threat and try to attack. Monkeys should not be fed either, because this is exactly how tourists have tamed them and continue to encourage the animals’ habituation and even dependence on human-provided food. Also, you should not eat or hold food in your hands in the presence of monkeys, as this may attract them and if they try to take your food away, they may injure you,” advises the traveler.

He points out that monkeys are also attracted to various shiny things, so when going to monkey parks, it is recommended to remove jewelry and piercings, not to wear sunglasses, and it is better to tie up long hair.

What to do if you are attacked by a monkey while traveling?

Monkeys usually take various shiny things from tourists with the aim of exchanging them for food, so if the monkey has stolen something valuable, you can try to show him something to eat and he will most likely let go of your things to get the food. If you are unable to recover your belongings or if they are damaged, contact your insurer who will cover the resulting damages.

On the other hand, in cases where the monkey has caused some physical damage, the wound should be washed with water, disinfected and immediately go to the nearest medical institution to perform the necessary tests and receive a rabies vaccine. Balcia the expert points out that these costs are also covered by the travel insurance, so in such cases it is necessary to keep all receipts and invoices, which can later be submitted to the insurer to receive compensation.

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