Celebrities often speak about the frustrations of being continually papped, with fans pestering them to smile for selfies until their cheeks ache.
It could well be this is a burden also shouldered by cute animals, with one particularly cheeky monkey from Indonesia’s Ubud Monkey Forest apparently having had quite enough of being snapped.
The monkey joined a family of holidaymakers for a selfie, and gave what in retrospect appears to be a sardonic grimace. The primate punk then proceeded to give them the finger, with his rebellious gesture caught on camera.
The family in question – mum Judy, 37, dad Simon, 36, and kids, Elijah, 13, Jimmy, 11, and Kayleigh, eight – had flown over to Bali from their home in Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
During their week in Bali, the family headed to the Ubud Monkey Forest, a place of profound spiritual significance to locals and home to approximately 700 monkeys.
After skimming through pics taken of them by a tour guide, the family were in for a hilarious surprise, with the furry photobomber having made his defiant gesture directly at the camera.
Judy said:
We were only in Bali for a week and thought it would be fun to go on a day tour around Bali. As part of the tour, we went to the monkey forest. I thought it would be a fun experience.
While we were there, a guide offered to take our photo. But as he did, a monkey suddenly came in front of the camera. The guide had peanuts in his hand and then began feeding him. It was really funny.
The family couldn’t contain their laughter at the sight of the fluffy rascal flipping the middle finger at the lens, his gaze cold and steely.
Far from being offended, Judy reckons the antics of this adorable anarchist made the trip ‘even better’:
As I was flicking through the photos afterwards, I noticed that in one of them the monkey was actually giving us the finger.
I showed my husband and we both started laughing. We thought it was hilarious. The monkey definitely had a cheeky persona going on.
We had such a great time there and these funny photos made it even better.
She continued:
I posted the photo to my Facebook and Instagram and all my family and friends thought it was hilarious.
The experience was one of the highlights of our trip, and the photo itself is something we can look back on to remember forever. Bali is such a beautiful place and we can’t wait to go back one day.
It’s always the unexpected moments which stick in your memory after a particularly brilliant holiday. No doubt this family will be laughing at this pic for years to come.
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.