Long-tailed macaques, also known as crab-eating macaques, swing on the trees and walk along the streets of Indonesia. They are believed to be temple guardians in Balinese Hinduism. Outside of Bali, long-tailed macaques can be shy. In Bali, however, since there are many tourists, these monkeys can be friendly, and maybe even too friendly, as they sometimes steal food and your belongings!
Long-tailed macaques have gray fur that sometimes looks orange-brown, and they have white moustaches. They have two orange or brown eyes, a small nose, four legs and a long tail. They are about the size of a small dog.
I was surprised to see them walking around in the wild, and honestly, I felt a little bit scared. However, wild monkeys can be just as scared of us as we are of them!
The long-tailed macaque lives in rainforests all over Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and India. Here, we're focusing on monkeys living on Mount Padang in West Sumatra and Klinking Temple in Nusa Penida, Bali.
