Barbary Macaque Monkeys of Gibraltar.
I love the Barbary macaque monkeys of Gibraltar, even if they are vicious little devils.
They are Europe’s last remaining wild monkeys and live high on the top of the Rock in the British territory of Gibraltar, which is situated south of Spain. It is a couple of hour’s drive from where I live in Andalusia and I visit them often.
How they got to be on this last little piece of English ruled land nobody really knows. Legends tell of an undiscovered underground tunnel running from Gibraltar to Morocco as a possible explanation, although no evidence has been found of one. The first record of their presence was recorded in the Gibraltar Governor’s book of 1740, which states they were imported from Barbary, North Africa for the military’s sport. Which is the most likely reason for their presence.
The military took care of the monkeys and appointed an Officer to be in charge of the apes, as well as a Keeper of the apes. Back then they referred to them as apes, but they are in fact a tailless breed of monkey. The babies were given the names of serving officers and their wives when they reached six months of age and they knew they were going to survive. These days they are fed and looked after by the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. They are fed twice a day and have a diet of fruit, vegetables, and seeds. They also have five swimming pools scattered about the nature reserve. Surprisingly Macaques do like to swim. Should you be lucky enough the find them hanging out at the pool on a hot afternoon, it is very much like watching a group of human teenagers at play.
A Barbary Macaque usually lives for around 25 years, although one monkey, Mercedes defied the odds and lived into her mid-thirties. The adult males weigh around 16 kg (35 pounds.) The troop is governed by the female matriarch and all the females in the troop will be related to her. The males leave the troop when they reach maturity. All of the monkeys in the troop help to raise the young. The babies are born with black fur which turns light brown as they age.
The female macaques all come into heat at the same time during November / December and are pregnant for five and a half months. They then all give birth around late May/ June/ early July. There are five troops of monkeys on Gibraltar. Each troop hones its reproductive cycle so that they come into season and give birth within the same couple of weeks. The babies are born high up in the trees and it is very rare for them to give birth to twins. The babies weigh around 600 grams at birth.
The monkeys are very badly behaved. The first record of their bad behaviour was in June 1875 when it was written that 60 apes had come down off the Rock into the town and were stealing fruit from the trees, tearing stones from walls, and breaking down wooden railings.
In modern times they are still just as wild, although they occasionally go on a wrecking mission to town it is the never ending stream of tourists that come to visit them in the nature reserve that gets their attention. They are extremely proficient thieves and will steal any food that they can get their hands on. Yes, they have hands just like humans, complete with opposable thumbs, and can undo zips and open bags at lightning speed. Should you try to challenge them beware as they do bite.
It is an offense to touch or handle the monkeys, and feeding them is also banned. There is a fine of £4,000 if you are caught giving them food. Although at the moment there isn’t anyone stationed up on the Rock to make that is enforced and I have seen some very stupid tourists up there. One was carrying a can of pop which a monkey knocked out of his hand, so he bent down and poured it over the floor so the monkeys could lap it up. Think of all that sugar rotting their teeth! People also carry food in their bags or store it under their child’s pram, which is highly dangerous as the macaques will bite in order to get what they want. You really don’t want one jumping into your baby’s pram, apart from the risk of them getting bitten the monkey’s paws will likely be covered in urine or feces as they don’t have the best toilet habits.
I have spent many hours studying them as I am an artist, as well as a writer. I made a sculpture from cement over a polystyrene base of a group of Macaques for the Gibraltar International art competition in 2015 and was delighted to win second prize. It weighs an absolute tonne and I was very happy that the Gibraltar Government gets to keep winning entries as it meant I didn’t have to try and lift it back into the car. They have since bought in a weight limit for sculptures, I am not at all surprised!
Another legend about the Macaques is that if they ever leave Gibraltar, then it will cease to be British. Winston Churchill took this legend seriously and imported more monkey’s from Morocco during WW2 as numbers had dwindled to seven and he wanted to boost morale by making sure everyone knew the legend wouldn’t come true. Currently the population numbers 300, so Gibraltar should remain in British hands for some time to come.
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For more on traveling to Gibraltar and visiting the Macaques, click here.
