If a monkey attacks you, the most important thing is to stay calm, avoid fighting back, and let the monkey disengage on its own. Most monkey encounters turn aggressive because the animal wants food or feels threatened, not because it wants to seriously harm you. Knowing how to read the warning signs, react during an attack, and treat any wounds afterward can make the difference between a minor scare and a dangerous infection.
Recognize the Warning Signs
Monkeys rarely attack without telegraphing their intentions first. The most common warning signal is an open-mouth stare, where the monkey locks eyes with you and opens its mouth wide. Its ears will push forward, its brow will lower, and its body will tense. This is a direct threat, often aimed at humans who get too close or are holding food.
If the aggression escalates, you’ll see head bobbing paired with that open mouth, followed by a forward lunge of the shoulders. A short, noisy vocalization called a pant-threat, lasting about a third of a second, signals the monkey is seriously considering charging. The full sequence goes: stare, bob, lunge, charge, bite. You want to de-escalate long before it reaches the charge phase.
One detail that surprises most people: a monkey showing its teeth with a pulled-back brow is actually signaling submission, not aggression. That’s the opposite of what you’d expect from a dog or a human. The threatening face is the wide-open mouth with a hard stare, not the toothy grimace.
How to Avoid Triggering an Attack
Most monkey aggression toward tourists centers on food. If you’re in an area with free-roaming monkeys, like temple grounds in Southeast Asia or parts of Central Africa, keep food and shiny objects (phones, sunglasses, water bottles) concealed or secured. If a monkey approaches you looking for a handout, hold out your empty palms to show you have nothing. That simple gesture can end the interaction.
Never make direct eye contact with an aggressive monkey. In primate social hierarchies, sustained eye contact is a challenge. Look slightly downward or to the side. Don’t smile or bare your teeth, which can be interpreted as a threat display. Keep your movements slow and deliberate. Quick, jerky motions read as either aggression or panic, both of which can escalate the situation.
What to Do During an Attack
If a monkey charges and jumps on you, do not scream, swat at it, or try to pull it off. This is the hardest advice to follow in the moment, but fighting back nearly always makes the attack worse. The monkey is faster than you, and struggling provokes more biting and scratching.
Instead, stay as still and quiet as you can. If the monkey has grabbed something you’re holding, like a bag, a hat, or food, let it go immediately. Most attacks end the moment the monkey gets what it wants or decides you’re not a threat. Once it loosens its grip, walk away slowly while facing the monkey. Don’t turn your back, and don’t run.
If there’s no object involved and the monkey seems to be attacking out of territorial aggression, back away steadily while avoiding eye contact. Keep your hands visible and open. The monkey will typically break off the encounter within seconds once you’re moving away from its space.
Clean the Wound Immediately
Even a minor scratch from a monkey needs serious first aid. The CDC recommends washing and gently scrubbing the wound with soap, detergent, or iodine for a full 15 minutes. After scrubbing, run clean water over the wound for another 15 to 20 minutes. That’s a total of 30 to 35 minutes of cleaning, which sounds excessive but is specifically designed to reduce the risk of viral infections that monkeys can transmit.
If the monkey made contact with your eyes, nose, or mouth, flush the area with water for at least 15 minutes as well. Don’t bandage the wound tightly afterward. A loose, clean covering is fine while you get to medical care.
Infections You Need to Know About
Monkey bites carry two infection risks that go well beyond what you’d worry about with a dog or cat bite.
B virus: Macaque monkeys, the species tourists most commonly encounter in Asia, can carry a herpes virus called B virus. It’s extremely rare in humans, but when it does transmit through a bite, scratch, or contact with the monkey’s saliva near your eyes or mouth, the consequences are severe. Symptoms typically appear within a month, sometimes as quickly as three to seven days. Without prompt treatment, B virus can cause serious brain damage or death within one to three weeks of symptoms appearing. This is the primary reason you need medical attention after any macaque bite, no matter how small.
Rabies: Monkeys can carry rabies, and any bite from a wild or semi-wild monkey in a rabies-endemic country warrants post-exposure treatment. The standard protocol is a series of four vaccine injections given on the day of the bite and then on days 3, 7, and 14. You’ll also receive an immune globulin injection at the wound site on the first visit. This treatment is highly effective when started promptly, so getting to a hospital quickly matters more than worrying about whether the specific monkey “looked rabid.”
Doctors will also evaluate whether you need antibiotics to prevent bacterial infection from the bite wound itself, along with a tetanus booster if yours isn’t current.
Which Monkeys Are Most Aggressive
Not all primates pose the same risk. Rhesus macaques and long-tailed macaques are the species most commonly involved in attacks on tourists. They’re habituated to humans, bold around food, and live in large social groups near temples, parks, and urban areas across South and Southeast Asia. Baboons in parts of Africa and Gibraltar can also be aggressive, particularly around cars and picnic areas where they’ve learned to associate humans with food.
Chimpanzees and baboons rank among the most aggressive primate species in general, but you’re far less likely to encounter them in a casual tourist setting. The vast majority of monkey attacks reported by travelers involve macaques, and the B virus risk is specific to macaques, making wound care and medical follow-up especially important after encounters with these species.
Report the Bite
After getting medical care, report the incident to local health authorities or wildlife management. This helps public health officials track rabies risk and identify problem animals. Provide as much detail as you can: what the monkey looked like, exactly where the encounter happened, and whether the animal seemed to be part of a managed group (like those at a temple) or was truly wild. If you’re traveling abroad, the hospital or clinic treating your wound can typically direct you to the right local authority. Your report may also help the next person who encounters that same animal.