UBUD ~ Monkeys in Monkey Forest, Ubud, visited by an average of 150 tourists per day, were accused this week of biting foreign tourists, a spokesman said.

However, I Gde Sunarta, a staff member of Monkey Forest, said that such incidents occurred when visitors did not obey the forest’s rules.

“We receive reports every month of visitors getting bitten by monkeys. However, those cases occur when people don’t obey the rules. For instance, visitors are told not to wear sparkly materials,” he said.

Sunarta also said that monkey bites were generally not serious injuries and that victims never had to seek hospital treatment.

Monkeys in the forest were tame, although they tended to steal wallets, food, bags and anything that sparkled, he stated, but that was also why the forest had rules.

If visitors obeyed the rules, problems with the monkeys could be avoided, he added.