Barbary macaque

바바리원숭이

The Barbary macaque is a nearly tailless monkey from the mountains of Morocco and Algeria. A troop also lives on the Rock of Gibraltar, the only place in Europe with wild monkeys, and males help care for the young.

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At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Mountain forests of Morocco and Algeria; Gibraltar
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Weight: about 13 kg
Length: about 0.6 m
Conservation status: Endangered (IUCN EN)
Habitat: forests, mountains

Quick answers

Where does the Barbary macaque live?

It lives in forests, mountains. On the globe you can find it near Mountain forests of Morocco and Algeria; Gibraltar.

How big is the Barbary macaque?

It grows to about 0.6 m and 13 kg.

What does the Barbary macaque eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

Is the Barbary macaque endangered?

It is listed as Endangered (IUCN EN).

The Barbary macaque is a monkey of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, and it is also the only monkey that survives in Africa north of the Sahara. A small introduced group lives on the Rock of Gibraltar, about 300 animals, which are the only wild monkeys in Europe.

It has a dark pink face and pale buff to golden-brown or grey fur, with a lighter belly. Males are bigger than females, averaging 14.5 to 16 kg against 9.9 to 11 kg. Its tail is so tiny, only 4 to 22 mm if present at all, that people often call it the Barbary ape. It eats mainly plants and insects. The Gibraltar group seems stable or growing, but the North African population is declining.

Where it lives

In Morocco most Barbary macaques live in Atlas cedar forests, but they also use oak and fir forests, grassland, scrub and rocky ridges, at heights between about 400 and 2,300 metres. In Algeria they live mainly in the Kabylie mountains, with an isolated group in Chréa National Park. Long ago they ranged across North Africa from Libya to Morocco, and fossils show they lived across Europe until about 85,000 to 40,000 years ago.

Family life

Barbary macaques are unusual because the males help to raise babies. Since fathers cannot be sure which infants are theirs, males take part in caring for all of them. In general, both sexes and all ages help look after the young. Males live to around 25 years and females may live up to 30. Females also have a big swelling that grows when they are ready to mate.

Gibraltar's monkeys

Writing in the early 17th century, a Gibraltar historian said the macaques had lived on the Rock since time immemorial. They were most likely brought from North Africa by the Moors in the Middle Ages. During World War II, Winston Churchill ordered more macaques to be brought to Gibraltar when their numbers dropped. The Barbary macaque was already known to Aristotle, who described an ape with arms like a man's, hair-covered, and with hardly any tail.