Tourist's Bali warning after brutal $8000 monkey attack
A traumatised tourist has issued a travel warning after claiming she was left $8,000 out of pocket after being attacked by a monkey that bit her neck while on holiday in Bali.
With it being her first time visiting the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, Patrizia Accoglienza said she thought it would be fun to check out the popular Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary during her recent stay.
The 42-year-old photographer from Melbourne, headed to the park and paid the $8 entrance fee to walk around the grounds.
But Ms Accoglienza’s visit was soon cut short after she claims a large monkey jumped on her backpack and suddenly bit her neck from behind – causing her to bleed.
The horrified tourist said she pushed the large primate – which she believes was an adult male - off her back and watched in terror as the monkey jumped onto a nearby ledge and ‘aggressively’ bared his sharp teeth at her.
After rushing to the park’s first aid clinic Ms Accoglienza claims the nurse presented her with a certificate to confirm that none of the monkeys had rabies or any other diseases.
Despite this, she decided to proceed with all the necessary injections just to be safe – which ended up costing her over a whopping $8,000.
“I’d never been to Bali before and heard about the monkey forest, so decided to give it a chance,” she explained.
“I was there for about an hour before I got bitten. I was photographing a monkey that was about two metres away from me at the time.
“Suddenly, another big monkey jumped on my backpack and bit my neck from behind. It happened so quickly, I was in total shock, and just pushed him off straight away.
“He jumped to a nearby ledge and showed his teeth in an aggressive manner. I asked another tourist nearby what my neck looked like and he told me there was blood.”
Ms Accoglienza was in a panic, she said, but didn’t trust the assurances from staff.
“I asked about a rabies injection, but she showed me a certificate which said the monkeys are tested and don’t have any diseases, including rabies. She said I didn’t need to worry and sent me on my way.
Her travel insurance should reimburse her for the cost but she won’t be visiting any monkey parks in the near future.
“The entire ordeal left me in shock, and I certainly wouldn’t be visiting any more monkey reserves,” she said.
“I’d also witnessed a few other people coming into the first aid room at the monkey forest who has been either scratched of bitten by them.
“It was a huge amount to pay upfront, and I’m just thankful that I had that in my bank account. Luckily, I’d taken out travel insurance who will be able to reimburse me.”
A spokesperson for the Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary said: “One of the top concerns we receive from visitors is about rabies.
“We always do a rabies test when we found one of our monkeys suddenly dead without any clear reason.”
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