BALI — A clever troop of monkeys roaming the grounds of a temple in Bali is making its way by stealing from tourists, only to use the stolen property as trade chips for desirable food snacks.
Primatologist Dr. Fany Brotcorne of the University of Liège in Belgium has been following a population of long-tailed macaques at Uluwatu Temple for several years. Throughout a four-month long study conducted in 2010 and published in the journal Primates this past May, Dr. Brotcorne and her team noticed this particular group of monkeys robbing tourists of everything from hats, glasses, jewellery, cameras, cell phones, flip flops, and even a wad of cash from a ticket booth.
In their efforts to retrieve the items, the temple’s staff figured out they had to offer the monkeys attractive foods in exchange for the return of the stolen goods. Apparently, these monkeys weren’t willing to hand over the tourists’ precious belongings for just any old piece of fruit. They were often seen tossing unfavorable morsels to the ground, only letting go of the pinched possessions when they were offered something they really fancied or deemed worthy of trade.
Based on their research, the scientists say these behaviors appears to be unique to this group of monkeys, not seen in other populations with similar environmental conditions.
The monkeys that spent the most time around tourists were also the ones who pulled off the most heists. The researchers concluded the monkeys likely learned the behaviors by watching each other’s success, then imparted the knowledge to their young, and in effect spread a survival advantage throughout their culture.
Their communal development here tips us off to their cognitive abilities when it comes to sharing information, planning ahead, and understanding the power of their decisions. According to an article by New Scientist, the researchers say “Bartering and trading skills are not well known in animals,” and “are usually defined as exclusive to humans.”
Between four troops observed, 172 successful monkey thefts were recorded, with more than half resulting in successful bartering transactions. Following the initial sample of research, Dr. Brotcorne compiled further observations from watching a fifth group of macaques who’d recently migrated over and managed to pick up the thieving skills as well. Dr. Brotcorne herself admitted she too nearly fell victim to them on several occasions, with the primates getting close enough to possibly snatch her research data.
Primatologist Dr. Fany Brotcorne of the University of Liège in Belgium has been following a population of long-tailed macaques at Uluwatu Temple for several years. Throughout a four-month long study conducted in 2010 and published in the journal Primates this past May, Dr. Brotcorne and her team noticed this particular group of monkeys robbing tourists of everything from hats, glasses, jewellery, cameras, cell phones, flip flops, and even a wad of cash from a ticket booth.
In their efforts to retrieve the items, the temple’s staff figured out they had to offer the monkeys attractive foods in exchange for the return of the stolen goods. Apparently, these monkeys weren’t willing to hand over the tourists’ precious belongings for just any old piece of fruit. They were often seen tossing unfavorable morsels to the ground, only letting go of the pinched possessions when they were offered something they really fancied or deemed worthy of trade.
Based on their research, the scientists say these behaviors appears to be unique to this group of monkeys, not seen in other populations with similar environmental conditions.
The monkeys that spent the most time around tourists were also the ones who pulled off the most heists. The researchers concluded the monkeys likely learned the behaviors by watching each other’s success, then imparted the knowledge to their young, and in effect spread a survival advantage throughout their culture.
Their communal development here tips us off to their cognitive abilities when it comes to sharing information, planning ahead, and understanding the power of their decisions. According to an article by New Scientist, the researchers say “Bartering and trading skills are not well known in animals,” and “are usually defined as exclusive to humans.”
Between four troops observed, 172 successful monkey thefts were recorded, with more than half resulting in successful bartering transactions. Following the initial sample of research, Dr. Brotcorne compiled further observations from watching a fifth group of macaques who’d recently migrated over and managed to pick up the thieving skills as well. Dr. Brotcorne herself admitted she too nearly fell victim to them on several occasions, with the primates getting close enough to possibly snatch her research data.
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