Barbary Apes, Gibraltar

2 more images

There are warnings out around the areas you will find the apes. While they are cute and very friendly they can also be potentially dangerous if you try to feed them. It is actually against the law in Gibraltar to feed them. There are a rising number of ape bites every year both to tourists and residents living in those areas.

Barbary Apes do bite!!! A guide encouraged one to sit on my shoulder whilst we were on the rock last week. It placed it's hand down the front of my top which I wasn't too pleased about when I went to remove it it grabbed my hand and sunk it's teeth in hard. My hand was left bleeding and very bruied, I'm assured they do not carry any diseases that I need worry about but it really did hurt and still does

This is an actual article from the Sunday Mirror on the 27 August 2006, read it and be warned!!

APES TOOK MY WIG
By Alan Breeze

HOLIDAYMAKER Len Reynolds had been fully warned about the Barbary apes of Gibraltar and their habit of picking tourists' pockets.

But the 67-year-old didn't expect them to swipe his new £200 hairpiece.

Len and his wife Liz, 66, from Huntingdon, Cambs, had taken a cable car to the apes' home on top of the Rock, which is strewn with notices warning tourists about their light-fingered habits.

But one sneaky simian spotted Len was wearing a wig, whipped it off his head in a flash and ran away with it over the tearoom roof. Even worse, the whole episode was seen by scores of other tourists.

"They fell about laughing," he said. "It was so embarrassing. The signs warn about the monkeys picking pockets - but don't say anything about toupee taking.

"And just to cap it all off, so to speak, I don't think my holiday insurance will pay out for a new hairpiece."

Watch out for the apes! Don't encourage them because they can bite and scratch.
Someone on the same tour as me had an awful scratch across her face and shoulders when an ape jumped from a rock above her, onto her head and then across her body ---all because she was feeding other apes!
Beware!

2 more images

The Apes are semi-wild but friendly . some are naughty though. Don't be superficious with your things like hat/cap, bag, cam, sunglasses/eyeglasses and etc. One thing is, they are less shy and occasionally climb on willing humans or they just jump landing on your back.

Keep a close eye on all purses, backpacks and bags. The Apes like food and shiny things and don't understand that cameraas and cell phones are expensive items. We ended up tying the zippers on our backpacks together so that the little guys couldn't get in.

The apes are extremely friendly, which is great. We had a blast with them. But one did slap me when I tried to get him off my friend's bag. We also watched as a different ape honed in on a shopping bag containing a couple's lunch (from about 200 ft away) and attacked it, making off with nearly all of their food. Needless to say, the couple was shocked.

Also, even though it's funny to watch the apes, don't feed them. They get proper food from the animal control and are very well taken care of. They're sweet and you don't want to make them sick or worse. Even though they're tough little guys, they still need to be protected. Thanks!

if you feed the monkeys they will associate human beings with food even more than they allready do and get more aggresive.
it´s allready a problem on the rock that the monkeys steal all kinds of bags from the tourists in the hope they contain food.
there is a 500£ fine if you are caught feeding them.

The apes are wild animals they live on the rock and they can be friendly on their terms. However do not approach them allow them to come to you as if they feel threatned in anyway they will bite. Also they have a nasty little habbit of stealing this is because they think if your carrying a bag that you have food.