Barbary Apes, Gibraltar

The Barbary Apes are a species of trailless monkeys called Barbary Macaques. Also found in Morocco and Algeria, these are the only free-living monkeys found in Europe.

There are roughly 160 monkeys living in Gibraltar, the best places to see them are at the Apes Den (Queens Gate), or the area of the Great Siege Tunnels.

In 1915 the Government payed the Army to feed the monkeys, and control their roaming and marauding. Nowadays the Government has responsability for controlling the monkeys. Gamekeepers are responsible for caring for the monkeys, and sometimes when they appear in the town, trying to steal food from houses the gamekeeper will be called to fetch them. When the gamekeeper arrives, the monkeys act like caught school children, upset and embarassed!

If you visit Gibraltar, you must go visit the Barbary Apes which you can find at the top cable car station or further down at the Ape's Den. These adorable creatures are quite mischievious so watch your possessions around them, they are adept at the skill of pickpocketing and will lift your camera, your food, your sunglasses or whatever else pleases their fancy.

They aren't really apes, by the way, they are monkeys (macques) but Barbary apes has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I almost expected them to be wearing eye patches and puffy pirate shirts the first time we visited.

Legend has it that "when the apes leave the Rock, so will the British" so they are well taken care of and well fed. They don't appear to be at all frightened of humans but don't forget that they are, after all, still wild animals and you really don't want to be hunting down a hospital to get a rabies shot while on vacation. And please don't feed them!!!!!

The Barbary Apes which apparently are originally from Africa live up towards the top of the rock. The tend to congregate arounnd the area known as the Apes Den. Being wild, it is impossible to guarantee that you will see any if you go there, but the probability is pretty high.

A rumour that has grown up over time is that Britain will continue to control Gibraltar, for only as long as these apes continue to live on the Rock. Whilst this is only an old-wives tail, I believe that special measures were taken during World War II to ensure that the apes survived.

At the top of the cable car is a restaurant/cafe/bar with brilliant views over the Med, Atlantic Ocean, Spain and Africa. Also a souvenir shop.
There are also toilets and bay changing facilities here.
Also the monkeys seem to gather a lot around this area.
Here are two enjoying their dinner.

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on the rock of gibraltar you have the only wild monkeys in europe.
they are all over the rock once you get up on top and it´s a pretty uniqe sight in europe, where monkeys is normally something you only have in a zoo.

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The next stop on our trip was at the place on the rock where the Gibraltar monkeys "hang out". We had already seen a few monkeys on the road while we were still on the bus and we were quite excited about this. This is amazing really, so many monkeys all over the place, some of them carrying their small babies around, some sat on top of the busses, a lot of them just sat on the road and frankly all over the place.

We had been warned not to take anything with us and to leave everything in the bus as the monkeys seemingly love to grab stuff from you. There have been incidences when they have thrown cameras down from the hill and there is no finding the stuff again. And there is a law against feeding them which will result in a fine.

There are ca 250 monkeys on Gibraltar and the belief is that as long as these monkeys exist in Gibraltar it will be under British rule. The Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic feeds the monkeys.

It is not quite certain how the monkeys came to live in Gibraltar, but scientists believe they are the last of its sort in Europe. One theory is that the Moors kept them as pets. They were there when the English took over Gibraltar in the early 1700's and are now one of the main tourist attraction in Gibraltar.

Visiting the Gibraltar monkeys is an absolute must!

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At the Apes Den (Queens Gate) , you have the opportunity seeing some of the Barbary apes living here. They are considered as the only free-ranging ones in Europe. They are fascinating and you could enjoy them closely. They're well behaved, but take precautions though. They could be dangerous.

The apes are certainly a major attraction. At the Ape's den however they suffer from too much human contact and human diet.

Whilst watching an ape open a crisp packet with two sets of thumbs and forefingers like humans may be 'cute' it is also playing havoc with his or her insides.

A diet of crisps, peanuts and mars bars may be quite routine for the average adolescent in the UK, but it takes years off these guys lives.

However, if you head up to the fortifications on the point of the rock nearest Spain then you may come across the second tribe of the rock who are somewhat less affected by human contact. From the pathways you get a good enough view, and it does them no harm.