Monkey steals Brit tourist's phone and takes off with it in Bali... and snaps selfies

Published: 20:58, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 20:58, 28 June 2026 A British tourist was left stunned after a cheeky monkey snatched his phone at a popular Bali temple, disappeared into the forest for more than an hour, and filled the device with selfies before it was recovered. Oliver Lloyd, 19, from Telford, Shropshire, was visiting the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, on June 15 when a long-tailed macaque grabbed his phone straight from his hand. The primate quickly vanished into the surrounding forest, leaving Oliver and his girlfriend searching among hundreds of macaques with the help of temple guards. After more than an hour, the couple managed to pinpoint the phone's location using the Life360 tracking app on Oliver's girlfriend's phone. A temple guard then tracked down the culprit and safely retrieved the device. When Oliver checked his phone, he discovered the mischievous monkey had recorded a lengthy video and even snapped several close-up selfies while holding it. The finance apprentice said: 'I was taking some photos of the monkeys to send to my mates. I put my phone down towards my pocket for a second and heard my girlfriend shouting my name. They snatched my phone straight out of my hand. A long-tailed macaque grabbed Oliver Lloyd's phone straight from his hand. The monkey captured a lengthy video and topped it off by taking several close-up selfies while clutching the device Pictured is the phone's screen protector after it was returned 'It disappeared into the forest and there were monkeys everywhere.' Oliver said his girlfriend joked: 'Imagine if the monkeys have taken selfies on your phone.' He added: 'I looked on the camera, and it had recorded a whole video and taken selfies. It was amazing. He's got his nipples in as well.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.