Monkeys in Argentina Raid Man’s Hotel Room on a Mission to Steal His Chips

A family in Argentina got a big surprise when they looked out onto the balcony of their hotel room to see monkeys hanging around. While recording the monkeys, they got an even bigger surprise - one of the monkeys opened the door to their hotel room and invited himself in! ABC News shared the funny video on Wednesday, June 5th, and it'll make you laugh.

Make sure your sound is up so you can hear the man's reaction to the mischievous monkeys' antics. Once inside the room, the man tries to scare the monkey away, and it looks like it might've worked. But the monkey wasn't about to leave empty handed, and in just seconds it darted across the room, hopped onto the counter where a bag of chips was sitting and grabbed them! In just another second, he's out of the room, showing off his prize to his monkey friends.

What would you do in this situation? I think the first thing I'd do would be to lock the sliding glass door to prevent any future visits! ABC News commenters also got a kick out of the funny video. One commenter laughed, "He was very strategic!" @Alejandra Tercero suggested, "Do it with the Mission Impossible music!" @Chicanita made me laugh with, "Wow from the mini bar... in this economy?! LOL!" I agree with @Hiking WNC who pointed out, "That monkey has done that before!" and @Alyse-Beast probably isn't wrong when she added, "I bet that sign on the door EXPLICITLY says, “Keep doors locked in case of monkeys” Ha ha!"

Related: Monkey in Bali Steals Woman’s Phone and Negotiates With Her to Give It Back

Why Do Monkeys Steal from Humans?

If you're on social media a lot, chances are you've seen many videos of monkeys stealing food - or even expensive or valuable items - from humans. Monkeys at a temple in Bali have learned that they can steal items from people (cell phones are a big one) and then negotiate with people to get food in exchange for giving the stolen goods back. Why do they do this?

Science Alert shared findings some researchers published after studying these monkeys in Bali, ""[O]ur findings indicate that robbing and bartering is a good candidate for a new behavioral tradition defined as a group-/population-specific practice, socially transmitted among at least some group members, persistent over several generations, and possibly locally adaptive." They also shared that these monkeys, "learn the robbing and bartering techniques from each other and even pass them down to offspring."

Interestingly researchers also found that the thieving monkeys have a good understanding of which items tourists consider most valuable (phones, jewelry, purses, glasses, etc.) and which are likely to get them the best amount of food.

While the monkeys in Argentina weren't bartering for anything, it's clear that they knew that there was food in the hotel room, and they had to have learned that from somewhere. It's pretty incredible how observant and intelligent some animals are!

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