Macaques go ape with big bangs

GIBRALTAR If you have been near the areas of Bastion or Laguna lately, you may well have been startled - not to say stunned - by loud bangs. No need for alarm, says Government. In the knowledge that noise is a good deterrent, this is the practical part of a new initiative from the Department of the Environment, with the support of the Royal Gibraltar Police, the Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic and the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society, aimed not only at raising awareness of the consequences of feeding the apes, but also, of getting them to go back up the Rock rather than populate the town centre and outlying estates. The bangs are scheduled for the next two weeks in different areas of Gibraltar. However, the initiative by Environment is to last>>>

Tourists ignore warnings about feeding apes

GIBRALTAR (Text & Photo: GibChronicle) Tourists flocked around these monkeys on Main Street yesterday, ignoring warnings that they were wild animals with a vicious bite. At one point a man pushing a small child in a pram reached down to feed a large male ape, disregarding locals who were urging him to stay away. Around him, Spanish teenagers on a school visit tossed crisps and screamed with delight as the primates rushed in to snatch them up. Feeding monkeys is not just dangerous, it is also a criminal offence punishable with a fine. Not only that, but it is bad for the primates. There is a general misconception that the monkeys roam into town because they are hungry. In fact, they are fed a diet of fruits, vegetables and grain twice a day. They also forage on natural plants and insects. But unauthorised feeding encourages them to seek out sugary foods, with the same detrimental effect as overindulgence has in humans.

Apes are a 'daily menace', says Rock employee

We met an employee at a well-known establishment in Gibraltar last week. She wishes to remain anonymous because she is afraid of losing her job. Her arms and legs showed bruises and bite marks. "We have to walk around with sticks because the apes attack us all the time," she told us. Colleagues, she added, are constantly having to call in sick because of the stress involved. None of the employees at this establishment -owned by one of Gibraltar's leading firms- have had any training or really know what to do in case of serious attack. Despite their pleas, she said nobody has done anything about it for years. There have been some serious incidents with the apes on Gibraltar,over recent months, including attacks on tourist families, on cruise ship crews and even invasions of hotel rooms.

Gib apes: from attraction to threat

GIBRALTAR
(Gibraltar Chronicle / Brian Reyes) Unruly behaviour by Gibraltar's iconic monkeys could drive tourists away from the Rock, two local hoteliers have warned. A string of recent incidents (see CP items here) has intensified concerns that some groups of Barbary Macaques are out of control. It is a problem that has long affected locals in some parts of the Upper Town, but it is now hitting the tourist trade too.>

Man accused of illegally keeping a Gibraltar ape at his home

LA LÍNEA 
A man was arrested recently for keeping a Gibraltar or Barbary Ape (Macaca Sylvanus) at his home in La Línea. Agents of the Guardia Civil Seprona unit saw the animal from the street, contacted the owner of the home and accused him of violating the law on illegal animals (Clause C of which specifies primates), as well as contraband. The ape, considered under Spanish law as a potentially dangerous animal (see how), was taken to a special unit for such animals at the Customs facilities in the frontier area.

Ape attacks hotel guest - again

GIBRALTAR
Gibraltar’s monkeys continued to upset guests and staff at the Caleta Hotel. Once again a guest has been bitten. A hotel client had to be taken to hospital yesterday after being bitten whilst on his balcony on the second floor. Another attack took place at the hotel on May 14 when an American female crew member of a ship was bitten on her left arm  in her room. Management have been urging Government to take action on this problem for several years.