Monkeys at Bali temple know which items to steal for ransom and food: Study

We have all heard tales about monkeys stealing food items and other expensive things from visitors in the famous Bali temple in Indonesia. Now, scientists have found out that the monkeys might be stealing these items while being aware of the value of these expensive belongings.

As per a paper published in the Royal Society science journal, the adult wild long-tailed macaque monkeys at theUluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia are intelligent enought o realise which item is expensive enough to be raided as a ransom.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Scientists found out that the moneklys let go of expensive items such as electronic gadgets only after receiving food that they feel would be of itscorresponding value.

"The token exchange paradigm shows that monkeys and great apes are able to use objects as symbolic tools to request specific food rewards," the study reads.

It was observed the interactions occurs in two phases, "after stealing inedible and more or less valuable objects (e.g. pairs of glasses, hats, empty bags) from temple visitors, the macaques appear to use them as tokens, by returning them to humans in exchange for a certain number/type of food rewards proffered by the temple staff."

The observation has been made after conducting a research for273 days between2015 to 2016, and a few days in 2019 too. During this time, the scientists filmed the monkeys in the area near the temple. These monkeys usually stared at a visitor, then silently approached them and stole the expensive object. They, then, waited at a side for the owner to approach them with a counteroffer of equal or higher value.

"Token-robbing and token/reward-bartering are cognitively challenging tasks for the Uluwatu macaques that revealed unprecedented economic decision-making processes," the study reads.

"This spontaneous, population-specific, prevalent, cross-generational, learned and socially influenced practice may be the first example of a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging animals."