[Sportschosun reporter Jang Jong-ho] A monkey has gone viral after stealing a tourist's phone and filming selfie videos.
According to foreign media outlets including SWNS and the Daily Mail, 19-year-old Oliver Lloyd, who lives in Telford, Shropshire, England, recently visited Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, with his girlfriend.
At the time, he was trying to film the long-tailed monkeys roaming around the temple so he could send the footage to his friends.
Just as he was about to put his phone in his pocket, one monkey snatched it from his hand in an instant and ran off into the woods.
Shocked by the sudden incident, Oliver and his girlfriend began searching for the phone with temple guards, moving through hundreds of monkeys.
After more than an hour of searching, the two checked the phone's location using a tracking app installed on his girlfriend's phone.
Based on that information, a temple guard found the monkey in question and successfully recovered the phone safely.
But the real surprise came next.
When Oliver checked the phone, he found that the monkey had not only taken several selfies while holding it, but had also recorded a fairly long video.
The photos clearly showed the monkey's face peering closely into the camera, and the phone also stored images and videos taken from unexpected angles.
Oliver said, "My girlfriend joked, 'What if the monkey took selfies with your phone?' and when I checked, the selfies and videos were all there," adding, "It was an unbelievably funny experience."
Meanwhile, Uluwatu Temple is also a well-known tourist spot where long-tailed monkeys are famous for taking visitors' glasses, hats, and phones before returning them in exchange for food. Local staff continue to warn tourists to keep their valuables secure.
Jang Jong-ho, bellho@sportschosun.com
