What was meant to be a sun-soaked Father’s Day getaway for the McDonald family from Sydney turned into a harrowing ordeal in the heart of Bali’s famed Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary. The family’s story, now making waves across travel advisories and social media, is a cautionary tale for the thousands of tourists who flock to Bali each year, eager for close encounters with its charismatic long-tailed macaques.
Flavia McDonald, her husband, and their 12-year-old daughter Lorena had planned the trip as a surprise for Father’s Day 2025, hoping to escape Sydney’s rainy weather for a week of relaxation by the pool. As Flavia told news.com.au, “My daughter had the idea of finding some sun after so much rain in Sydney as a surprise for her dad. We thought it would be a memorable week ... being by the pool in sunny Bali would be remarkable.”
After a few days of unpredictable tropical weather, the family decided to venture out to Ubud, lured by the promise of clearer skies and the allure of the Monkey Forest, one of Bali’s most popular tourist attractions. Home to more than 1,200 Balinese long-tailed macaques, the sanctuary is a magnet for animal lovers and Instagrammers alike. But as the McDonalds would soon learn, the experience can take a terrifying turn in mere seconds.
The park was "super busy" when the McDonalds arrived that Wednesday morning. After walking around for about 40 minutes and following all posted safety guidelines—no bags, no water bottles, no food—the family decided to take a seat in the amphitheater area, watching the monkeys from a distance. Suddenly, as Flavia recounted, “Within one minute, a monkey jumped on my husband’s shoulders... and within seconds it went from his shoulder to my daughter’s.”
What happened next was a blur. The monkey, seemingly emboldened by the crowd, began pulling at Lorena’s shirt and rummaging through her pockets. Flavia described the moment to The Sun: “Lorena was paralyzed with fear. We knew we couldn’t make any abrupt movements. So the monkey started pulling at her shirt, her pockets, looking in her top. As I got close to her to shush it away, within five seconds, it just bit her on the neck.”
The bite pierced Lorena’s skin, drawing blood. Flavia, though “petrified” inside, tried to remain calm so as not to worsen the panic. “She thought it was a scratch... but then we saw the bite mark with blood. The whole thing was just so fast,” Flavia recalled. Sanctuary staff responded by washing the wound with soap and water and reassuring the family that the monkeys were “very clean,” dismissing fears of rabies. “They kept saying we don’t need to worry,” Flavia said. But her instincts told her otherwise.
Determined to do more, the McDonalds rushed Lorena to a clinic in Ubud, a search that Flavia described as “so stressful.” The urgency was compounded by the knowledge that rabies, though rare, is 100 percent fatal without prompt treatment and that Bali has seen a spike in rabies-positive animals in recent years. According to travel advisories cited by news.com.au and the Australian government’s Smartraveller, rabies treatment in Indonesia can be limited, with vaccines and crucial immunoglobulin often unavailable outside major centers. In some cases, travelers have had to return to Australia or seek treatment in another country.
When the family finally found a clinic equipped to administer the vaccine, they were hit with another shock: a bill totaling approximately 60 million Indonesian rupiah, or about 6,000 Australian dollars. Flavia had to dip into her personal savings to pay upfront, as insurance funds could not be accessed immediately. “It was ridiculous,” she told The Sun. Lorena received four rabies vaccine injections—one directly into the bite area, one below the bite, one in the arm, and one in the leg—along with medication for herpes virus B infection, another rare but serious risk associated with macaque bites.
The ordeal left Lorena shaken and the family’s holiday in ruins. Flavia later spoke publicly to urge other travelers to be vigilant. “If I had read anything like this, anything similar, I would have had a different approach to going to the park,” she reflected. “I would’ve been a little more aware that something like this can actually happen, it ruined the trip for us.”
The McDonalds are now waiting to see if their travel insurance will reimburse the steep medical costs. Their experience is not unique. In July 2019, Melbourne photographer Patrizia Accoglienza was also bitten on the neck by a macaque at the same sanctuary, forced to pay $8,000 in medical bills before being reimbursed by insurance. “It happened so quickly, I was in total shock, and just pushed him off straight away,” she told Caters. “He jumped to a nearby ledge and showed his teeth in an aggressive manner.”
The Ubud Monkey Forest Sanctuary, while beloved by many, has developed a reputation for aggressive monkey encounters. The sanctuary’s own website advises, “In general, monkeys will not come to you if you do not bring bananas or any other food. To respect the natural behavior of the monkeys and avoid any accident, please don’t make any physical contact or feed the monkey extra food from outside of the park.” Yet, as the McDonalds’ experience shows, even those who follow the rules can become victims.
Travel advisories now urge anyone visiting Bali, especially areas where monkeys roam freely, to consider pre-travel rabies vaccinations. “Rabies treatment in Indonesia may be limited,” warns Smartraveller. “The rabies vaccine is not available everywhere in Indonesia, and rabies immunoglobulin is generally not available at all to treat rabies if you contract it.” The site also cautions travelers to avoid direct contact with animals, including monkeys, and to seek immediate medical attention after any bite or scratch.
Bali’s rabies risk is not confined to monkeys. Recent spikes in infections have been traced to dogs in so-called “red zone” areas like South Kuta, Nusa-Dua, Tanjung Benoa, Jimbaran, and Canggu. The acting head of animal health in Bali, Anak Agung Istri Brahmi Witari, noted that wild dogs nesting in bushy terrain are a significant factor in the spread of the disease.
For the McDonalds, what began as a simple family holiday ended with a stark lesson in the unpredictability of wildlife encounters and the importance of preparation. As Flavia put it, “This is one more piece of travel planning for folks to be more careful around monkeys, or other animals, during trips to the region.” She also lamented the difficulty of obtaining pre-travel rabies vaccinations, a hurdle for many tourists heading to Bali.
The message from those who have lived through these frightening experiences is clear: when it comes to animal encounters abroad, vigilance and preparation are as crucial as sunscreen and passports. And sometimes, the most memorable moments of a holiday are the ones you’d rather forget.
