‘They’ve lost their fear of humans and regard them as a source of rich food,’ said Gibraltar’s Environment Minister Dr John Cortes.
Feeding the Barbary Macaques is illegal and punishable by a fine but the law is routinely ignored particularly by tourists who flock to the areas of The Apes Den and The Siege Tunnels at the top of the Rock.
Last week, a grandmother was bitten in a unprovoked attack whilst pushing her grandson in a pram.
Rose Vinales was among almost sixty people who needed hospital treatment this year after being bitten by one of the monkeys.
A government led campaign, titled Get Our Monkeys Back To Nature, has since been launched to teach people not to feed the iconic primates
A government led campaign, titled Get Our Monkeys Back To Nature, has since been launched to teach people not to feed the iconic primates
The campaign is part of a
wider action plan being developed by the colony's government with the support
of primate experts at the Born Free Foundation.
A boost to a contraceptive programme forms part of the scheme as does ‘the possibility of relocating up to 120 monkeys to north Africa’, according to a government statement.
A boost to a contraceptive programme forms part of the scheme as does ‘the possibility of relocating up to 120 monkeys to north Africa’, according to a government statement.
Dr Cortes, an authority on the Barbary Macaques, said that the current population is around 230. He reiterated that culling was not supported by the government.
Although the Barbary
macaque is a much-loved national symbol of Gibraltar mystery surrounds its
arrival on the Rock.
Their existence was noted
by the first chronicler of Gibraltar in the early 17th century.
Outside Gibraltar, the
remaining wild populations in Algeria and Morocco are under threat.
Gibraltar’s monkey were
under the often affectionate care of the British Army, and later the Gibraltar
Regiment, from 1915 to 1991.
Sgt. Alfred Holmes was one
well remembered Officer-in-Charge of the monkeys who cared for, fed, nursed and
named the monkeys for almost thirty years from the mid-1950s.
Holmes described the monkeys as Gibraltar’s 'greatest treasure' and even ensured any sick animals were attended by the same doctors as soldiers at the Royal Naval Hospital.
In
the past they have died from flu.
A belief that the Rock will
stay British as long as the monkeys remain was behind a move by Sir Winston
Churchill to import monkeys when the Gibraltar population plummeted to just
seven individuals during World War Two.
The species is commonly
referred to as the 'Barbary ape' though the light brown animal is actually a
stubby-tailed monkey.
Dr Cortes said the campaign
would present challenges but would succeed with community support.
Gibraltar monkey jumps on Swedish Tourist's back
