Barbary Apes on Gibraltar

Join me today for more of our trip to Spain in 2006, specifically for those amazing Barbary apes at Gibraltar. The two apes on the bus, top and windshield, are easy to spot, but look closely and see a small one which has adopted the woman stepping out of the bus. (Just kidding--it's her sweater.)

Sitting on the road as we approached this tourist site was this fellow who seemed engrossed in his own body. No, those are not peanuts on the pavement in front of him!

These apes are called macaque as well as Barbary apes. The two below are not scared of cars at all. In fact, none of them are and the drivers have to take great care to avoid them.

Here is a closeup of one of the bigger ones. He probably sits about two feet tall here.

And here is another one in a similar position, right in the roadway. Their expressions seem to say, "I am so bored with these tourists!"

I liked this shot very much because of the interesting tree but the macaque wouldn't cooperate to give me a really great shot of him. He seemed camera shy or totally annoyed and wanting privacy.

Finally, I have repeated this shot from an earlier blog just because he belongs with these other macaques. Cool tree, eh?

We were impressed with the sign which told of the macaques and their habits, but especially warning why not to feed them or appoach them. They need to be left alone so as not to become stressed. They don't need extra food as they'll get fat, have shorter life spans, and not procreate. Sounds like something we should think about for humans, doesn't it?