Barbary Apes, Gibraltar

Despite signs saying not to feed the little (and not so little!) rascals there is an old guy that sits up there selling bags of seeds and peanuts.

On our last trip up there in a hire car, I bought a bag and was “mugged” by a huge ape that ran at me, as I turned to shield from it, it climbed up my back and then ripped the bag from my hands… oh to have had a movie camera I could have claimed my £250 off of the TV company.

I was so annoyed I chased it across the road and it took to the trees across the guard wall, where it picked out the peanuts in their shells from the bag and dropped the rest down the mountainside!

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In the natural reserve of the Gibraltar you will se the Apes. It is stricly forbidden to feed or touch the Apes. But there are so use to human presence that they will come to you. You will be surprise to see how friendly they are and how many there is.
It was probably the highlight of the trip!
These Apes were brough to the Gibraltar from north africa in the 1700 and they never left.

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I spent the afternoon building trust with a group of Apes at the Den.
When I had built enough of a bond with the apes they started to play with me. There was a group of adolecents who felt they could trust me enought to really start jumping all over me. I guess as I was wearing grey clothing they felt I was one of them. They really had a rough-and-tumble over me and I made sure to keep within my bounds by not making any sharp movements or attempts to stroke them. This ensured they felt they could spend as much time as they liked playing with me and instinctively knew that I was not going to harm them.
I have heard they can be nasty but this was out of the "Hot" season so they were less likely to be agitated and I had spend a few hours getting closer to them and leting them gain confidence with me. Never at any stage did I feed them. That would have made the playing impossible. To see a great video of them jumping all over me see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAI7GddkWSQ

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They are the only wild apes in Europe. They are cute, friendly and they like to jump on you but remember you can't touch them. Do not bring any food out when go to see them because it will be gone in a second. They are all located on the rock. Take your camera because you will love taking photos of them.

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The Barbary macaques, despite being called Barbary Apes, are monkeys. These primates hail from Morocco and Algeria (from the Atlas Mountain range) but were brought across and introduced to Gibraltar where they live freely and are positively thriving.

The infamous monkeys live at the top of the rock, doing as they please but do remember, whilst they are most definitely (especially the babies) rather cute they are most defnitely wild animals with very large teeth which you really do not want to get bitten by!

We took a 'rock tour' and our guide (who did not like the Gibraltans, which I thought was fair enough) was rather animated about the care or lack of care for these monkeys. He said they are not fed well (an arguable point if one considers they are 'wild' but definitely a point when one takes into consieration the probable lack of natural food on top of the rock and the fact that they attract vast numbers of tourists each year) but most concerning was that he said no medical attention is provided for the monkeys. His example was that a monkey could be hit by a vehicle (quite possible and probable) but will be left rather than treated. I hope this is not true but... I fear it probably is.

Anyway, when you go and see the Barbary macaques it is most likey you will at least have one jump on you - be it because (in the case of my children) the guide puts a nut on your shoulder, or in my case they see a fellow primate and start rummaging through your hair 'grooming' you!!!

I took a cablecar to the top of the rock, (which was well worth it merely for the view) and saw the Barbary apes.
Later I ventured inside St Michaels Cave and made the long walk down.

If you go exploring on the Rock, you are likely to see plenty of Barbary Apes, Europe's only wild primates. Legend has it that when the apes disappear from Gibraltar, so will the British.

Anywhere around the Rock area one will come across the many wild monkeys. Being very used to people and tourists, they can be very bold. Caution is advised.