Tourists bitten after interacting with monkeys in Bali park despite warnings

A visit by two Canadian tourists to the popular Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Bali went awry after one of them failed to heed warnings to keep a distance from the monkeys and was bitten.

In a video posted last Saturday by Ms Molly McMurray on Tiktok, Ms Erica Mussini is seen sitting on a step at the Monkey Forest in Ubud, where she is interacting with two monkeys next to her.

A larger monkey, seated on a step behind her, then runs towards her and bites her forearm.

In a subsequent Tiktok post a day later, Ms McMurray said that they went to a local clinic where Ms Mussini was given six injections, and that she would be going for additional medical checks when they returned to Canada.

Earlier in March, Singaporean content creator Nicole Chen, more popularly known as Nicole Liel, also took to Tiktok after her friend was bitten by a monkey at the same attraction in Ubud.

Ms Chen said that one of her three travel companions had been “playing with the monkeys… and stroking them, when one of them bit down on her”.

Upon their return to Singapore, her friend’s foot had swollen up as a result of the bite, and she had to receive 10 injections for rabies as a precaution.

On the Monkey Forests website, guidelines for visitors state that they should not touch or play with the monkeys, as the animals could respond by biting them.

Visitors are also advised to seek help at the Monkey Forest’s first-aid clinic if they are bitten so that clinic staff can help clean the wound with alcohol and provide antiseptic cream.

The website

states that the monkeys do not have rabies and have their health frequently monitored by researchers from the Primate Research Centre of Udayana University, located in Bali.

Visitors are advised to refrain from bringing food or feeding the monkeys in the attraction as well as to avoid making eye contact as this can be perceived by the monkeys as a sign of aggression.