Gibraltar's Barbary Apes

Gibraltar is well known for its Barbary Apes. It is the only place in Europe to have wild monkeys. They are actually monkeys, despite being called apes. And these Barbary Apes or Barbary Macaques are only found in the wild on Gibraltar and in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The word Barbary comes from the Berber people in Morocco.

There are several troops of apes living on the rock, numbering about 250 individuals. Occasionally some of them venture into town. They are all monitored and have frequent health checks and population controls. They are also fed and watered every day. They have a longer life span than those in Morocco.

The first troop I saw was outside St Michael's Cave. They mostly ignored visitors as they were well fed - there was a lot of food on the ground for them.

The next troop I saw was at a viewpoint. One obligingly posed for photos.

The next lot I saw was on the observation deck at the top of the cable car ride. One suddenly tried to
grab my backpack that I was wearing. I was a bit puzzled as I knew there was no food inside, so assumed it was just being cheeky and trying its luck. However the next moment it jumped onto my back. I tried unsuccessfully to shake it off but it was holding tight. It soon jumped off, sat down and I realised it had got 2 wrapped mints that had been in the small front pocket. The ape had unzipped this pocket and removed the sweets, thankfully leaving everything else in place. It then turned its back on me and ate the sweets. I'm amazed it had been able to smell the sweets from a distance.

There are plenty of signs up reminding visitors not to feed the apes, and warnings that the apes will
snatch plastic bags. But there was no sign about them unzipping backpacks! The thefts from bags is mentioned on Wikipedia.

I later saw this couple. They reminded me of an old married couple settled down in front of the tv,
sharing a bag of crisps. They had obviously stolen the crisps from a visitor.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. There is a legend that as long as the monkeys stay on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule.