Usually, a monkey in Sangeh can be bribed to sit on the shoulder of a pair of peanuts. The downturn in tourism has changed their habits.
The world economy could hit $ 4 trillion this year as a result of reduced tourism during the corona epidemic. The amount corresponds to a staggering 34,000 billion kroner: Approx. three Norwegian oil funds.
In Sangeh, Bali, there are 600 unintentional and perhaps unexpected victims of the downturn: macaques.
Normally they live off tourism. They eat peanuts, bananas and other snacks they get from tourists who want to take pictures. With the pandemic, the holidaymakers disappeared. According to the news agency AP and local media the monkeys have found a new livelihood: theft.
Sits ready on the roofs
The monkeys live in a forest about 500 meters from Sangeh. The inhabitants say that they are now moving to the village. There they sit on the roofs, tossing roof tiles and waiting for the right moment. Then they whiz down and nibble on a treat.
The inhabitants are nervous. Will the monkeys’ outcome be stepped up? Will there be an attack on the village? They have therefore started bringing fruit and peanuts to the forest to appease the animals.
– We are afraid that the hungry monkeys will become wild and malicious, says Saskara Gustu Alit to AP.
Must obtain SEK 500 a day
Sangeh is in Bali, Indonesia. Before the virus, the four million inhabitants of the island received five million tourists annually. 6,000 visitors came to the monkey forest in Sangeh in a typical month. Last year and earlier this year, around 500 came. In July, the country closed its borders. Now no one is coming.
Thus, the reserve does not make money either. Made Mohon, who is the head of the tourist destination, is worried. He strives to get the around 500 kroner he needs every day for monkey food. For that amount, he gets 200 kilos of cassava – a tropical vegetable – and ten kilos of bananas.
– The pandemic has been going on longer than we expected. Food for the monkeys has become a problem, he says.
–Bored?
Saskara Gustu Alit has another unrest. He is afraid the monkeys are bored without tourists they can steal sunglasses from.
– Therefore, I have asked the residents here to go to the forest and play with the monkeys and give them food. I think they need contact with people as often as possible so that they do not get lost, he says.
The newspaper Jakarta Post wrote earlier this summer that global tourism also needs a shot in the arm. However, experts believe that tourism will not reach the level from 2019 until 2023 or 2024 at the earliest.
–
