What should you know about animals in Bali?

Bali's relationship with animals is complicated: sacred monkeys, free-roaming dogs, working animals, a serious rabies situation and a tourism industry with a wide ethical range.

Monkeys

Long-tailed macaques live around several temples, notably the Ubud Monkey Forest, Uluwatu and Sangeh. They are wild, intelligent, and at Uluwatu in particular they have learned that sunglasses and phones can be traded back for fruit.

The rules:

• Nothing loose: no sunglasses on your head, no hat, no phone in an open hand, no dangling bag, no water bottle.
• Do not make eye contact, bare your teeth or smile widely, which reads as a threat.
• Do not feed them outside the designated areas.
• If one takes something, let it go and find a staff member with fruit. Pulling back gets you bitten.
• Keep small children close and on your hip.

If you are bitten or scratched: wash the wound with soap and running water for 15 minutes and go to a clinic the same day for rabies post-exposure treatment. This is not optional and not a wait-and-see situation.

Dogs

Bali has a large free-roaming dog population and an ongoing rabies problem, with periodic outbreaks and vaccination campaigns.

Most dogs are not aggressive and will ignore you. Do not approach, pet or feed strays, do not run past a group of them, and be particularly careful at night and around puppies, when mothers are protective.

Any bite means the same protocol as above: wash thoroughly, clinic same day.

Animal attractions to avoid

Elephant riding, and "sanctuaries" that offer riding or bathing. The elephants in Bali are not native, were brought here for tourism, and the training involved is what you would expect.

Caged civet coffee. The luwak coffee sold at plantation stops overwhelmingly comes from caged animals, and the coffee itself is not good.

Dolphin shows and swim-with-dolphin pools. Captive dolphins in chlorinated pools, some at hotels. Avoid entirely.

Any photo opportunity with a sedated animal: big cats, orangutans, snakes draped over tourists.

Turtle handling at "conservation" operations that let you hold hatchlings.

What is reasonable

The Ubud Monkey Forest, which is a temple forest with a wild macaque population rather than an enclosure.

Bali Safari Park and Bali Zoo, which are conventional zoos with breeding programmes, reasonable by regional standards, and a genuinely good day for children. Skip the animal-contact add-ons.

Turtle conservation and release programmes run by recognised organisations, where the turtles are released and not handled by visitors.

Bird watching in West Bali National Park, including the critically endangered Bali starling.

Lovina dolphin boats, with caution: some operators keep respectful distance, and a fleet chasing one pod does not.

In the water

Turtles are common around the Gilis and the Nusa Islands. Do not touch or chase them, and stay above rather than crowding them.

Manta rays at Manta Point and in Komodo. Keep distance at cleaning stations, do not swim underneath them, and follow the guide's briefing. Approaching them is what makes them leave.

Snakes, insects and the rest

Snakes exist and are rarely seen. Mosquitoes are the animal that will actually affect you, because dengue is endemic: repellent morning and evening. Sea urchins on reef at low tide are the other common injury, which reef shoes prevent.

Before you travel

Ask a travel clinic about pre-exposure rabies vaccination, particularly if you are travelling with children, planning to cycle or ride a scooter, or spending time in rural areas. It does not remove the need for treatment after a bite, and it simplifies and shortens that treatment considerably, which matters in a place where the right immunoglobulin is not always available locally.

Check your travel insurance covers post-exposure treatment and, if necessary, evacuation to a hospital that has it.

Animal welfare organisations

Bali has several long-running animal welfare organisations working on street dog sterilisation, rabies vaccination and rescue. They take donations and volunteers, and they are a better place to direct sympathy than a photo opportunity with a captive animal.

If you find an injured animal, they are also who to call rather than attempting to handle it yourself.