Post by Bozur on Jul 3, 2005 23:33:08 GMT -5
Gibraltar Journal
Where the British May Reign but the Monkeys Rule
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: June 28, 2005
GIBRALTAR - Legend has it that as long as the Barbary
apes roam the rock of Gibraltar, the territory will remain safely under British rule.
The British have embraced this particular piece of folklore for centuries; not even Churchill, in the throes of World War II, dared to disregard it. In 1944, with British morale battered by the war and the Rock's monkey population dwindling, he took no chances. He ordered a shipment of Barbary macaques from Morocco, a short hop across the strait.
Denis Doyle for The New York Times
Their antics and talent for theft provoke consternation in the Rock's other resident primate species.
Denis Doyle for The New York Times
The 200 or so roving monkeys, a k a Barbary apes, on Gibraltar like to perch on tourists for pictures and on cars for treats.
Little did Churchill envision how big the monkey population would grow, nor the shenanigans that would come along with it.
There are now nearly 230 tailless Barbary monkeys on Gibraltar, and they do not merely live on the Rock so much as dominate it. As the last free-ranging monkeys left in Europe, the macaques happily milk that privilege, oblivious to the consternation they provoke among the Rock's other set of primates, their human neighbors.
The monkeys do have a dedicated home, an ape den, at the reservoir up on the limestone rock that constitutes the bulk of tiny Gibraltar. But they are free to stray, and they do so, mostly in a quest for Kit-Kat bars, shady spaces, fruit trees, swimming pools and human toys. They have a special affinity for the purses, shiny cameras and plastic shopping bags that people tote around.
And they have grown so used to the kindness of tourists and tour guides that little will frighten them away, not even the sharp flick of a broom or the shrill screams of children.
It is not uncommon to stroll past the popular Caleta Hotel on Catalan Bay here and see a pack of large monkeys, with babies in tow, shinnying up drain pipes, sunning themselves on balconies, peering into open windows and waiting expectantly for a tourist to toss them a handful of potato chips, which the British call crisps.
While tourists find the monkeys amusing (at least until a camera gets snatched), the hotel management most certainly does not. A sign posted at the entrance warns visitors to close their windows when they leave their rooms and resist the urge to feed the monkeys.
The monkeys - despite being called apes, they are really monkeys - have grown so adept at the game that they can easily tell the difference between a maid and a tourist (the maid wears a uniform and cleans the windows).
"People think they are cute, and they hand them crisps and biscuits, so the monkeys climb up and take the food," said Eric Shaw, who works for the nonprofit Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society and is in charge of the monkeys. "I mean, if you want to buy me a free drink, I'll take it. It's not that they are so clever. It's that we are thick."
Like the adorable pint-sized pickpockets that abound in some European cities, often with the blessing of their parents, the monkeys do their utmost to charm and distract before making off with the loot. They have learned to preen in front of cameras and mimic snapping a picture; they jump on the heads of tourists for a laugh; they perch on the side mirrors of touring taxis and wait for their treats; they have even figured out how to unwrap candy bars.
One of their favorite tricks is swiping ice cream cones from children, leaving behind a trail of crumbs and tears. (Not surprisingly, the monkeys now suffer from tooth decay.).
Nobody is supposed to feed or touch the monkeys, which carries a fine of nearly $1,000. The last time someone was punished for the offense, though, was 1918.
They are Gibraltar's biggest tourist attraction, but the 30,000 residents here are growing increasingly impatient with the monkeys' hooligan antics. Outside her apartment building a few blocks from the Gibraltar hospital, Genevieve Almeida, 33, ticked off a list of outrages. The residents have complained repeatedly to the government, she said, and nothing has been done. Some garbage cans still have no lids, and the area's wire fences are badly in need of repair.
When the monkeys are around, she and her neighbors are forced to leave their groceries in their cars, because the sight of a plastic shopping bag would almost certainly touch off a stampede. Windows stay shut and children indoors or, at least, under strict orders not to carry food.
Cars in the neighborhood are dented and scratched because of the monkeys. They act as if it is the height of hilarity to snatch clothes off the line and scram. They also steal bread and fruit from kitchen counters and delight in disrupting a social gathering or two. "In the middle of a pool party, they will come in and jump in the pool and ruin the party," Ms. Almeida said.
Once, a monkey was found sleeping comfortably in a man's bed.
While usually harmless, the monkeys, which weigh about 35 pounds, can turn vicious, especially if their babies are threatened. A little girl was recently bitten by one, and the residents photographed the wound as proof, Ms. Almeida said. "They are part of the neighborhood now," she said of the monkeys.
Peter Caruana, the chief minister of Gibraltar, said the government was trying to deal with monkeys that run amok. But the underlying problem is that there are too many monkeys, and people don't want to see them culled.
"Really we are now facing an almost certain need for a culling operation," Mr. Caruana said. "There is no huge enforcement effort, by default rather than by design. The dimension of the problem is huge."
But Mr. Shaw and a clutch of residents say the government cannot have it both ways: If tourists and taxi drivers are permitted to feed them, despite the law, then people must learn to live with monkey mischief.
Plus, monkeys that can roam, he said, will roam, and there is little the government can do to hem them in.
"What part of 'free ranging' do they not understand?" Mr. Shaw asked, with a laugh.
Where the British May Reign but the Monkeys Rule
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: June 28, 2005
GIBRALTAR - Legend has it that as long as the Barbary
apes roam the rock of Gibraltar, the territory will remain safely under British rule.
The British have embraced this particular piece of folklore for centuries; not even Churchill, in the throes of World War II, dared to disregard it. In 1944, with British morale battered by the war and the Rock's monkey population dwindling, he took no chances. He ordered a shipment of Barbary macaques from Morocco, a short hop across the strait.
Denis Doyle for The New York Times
Their antics and talent for theft provoke consternation in the Rock's other resident primate species.
Denis Doyle for The New York Times
The 200 or so roving monkeys, a k a Barbary apes, on Gibraltar like to perch on tourists for pictures and on cars for treats.
Little did Churchill envision how big the monkey population would grow, nor the shenanigans that would come along with it.
There are now nearly 230 tailless Barbary monkeys on Gibraltar, and they do not merely live on the Rock so much as dominate it. As the last free-ranging monkeys left in Europe, the macaques happily milk that privilege, oblivious to the consternation they provoke among the Rock's other set of primates, their human neighbors.
The monkeys do have a dedicated home, an ape den, at the reservoir up on the limestone rock that constitutes the bulk of tiny Gibraltar. But they are free to stray, and they do so, mostly in a quest for Kit-Kat bars, shady spaces, fruit trees, swimming pools and human toys. They have a special affinity for the purses, shiny cameras and plastic shopping bags that people tote around.
And they have grown so used to the kindness of tourists and tour guides that little will frighten them away, not even the sharp flick of a broom or the shrill screams of children.
It is not uncommon to stroll past the popular Caleta Hotel on Catalan Bay here and see a pack of large monkeys, with babies in tow, shinnying up drain pipes, sunning themselves on balconies, peering into open windows and waiting expectantly for a tourist to toss them a handful of potato chips, which the British call crisps.
While tourists find the monkeys amusing (at least until a camera gets snatched), the hotel management most certainly does not. A sign posted at the entrance warns visitors to close their windows when they leave their rooms and resist the urge to feed the monkeys.
The monkeys - despite being called apes, they are really monkeys - have grown so adept at the game that they can easily tell the difference between a maid and a tourist (the maid wears a uniform and cleans the windows).
"People think they are cute, and they hand them crisps and biscuits, so the monkeys climb up and take the food," said Eric Shaw, who works for the nonprofit Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society and is in charge of the monkeys. "I mean, if you want to buy me a free drink, I'll take it. It's not that they are so clever. It's that we are thick."
Like the adorable pint-sized pickpockets that abound in some European cities, often with the blessing of their parents, the monkeys do their utmost to charm and distract before making off with the loot. They have learned to preen in front of cameras and mimic snapping a picture; they jump on the heads of tourists for a laugh; they perch on the side mirrors of touring taxis and wait for their treats; they have even figured out how to unwrap candy bars.
One of their favorite tricks is swiping ice cream cones from children, leaving behind a trail of crumbs and tears. (Not surprisingly, the monkeys now suffer from tooth decay.).
Nobody is supposed to feed or touch the monkeys, which carries a fine of nearly $1,000. The last time someone was punished for the offense, though, was 1918.
They are Gibraltar's biggest tourist attraction, but the 30,000 residents here are growing increasingly impatient with the monkeys' hooligan antics. Outside her apartment building a few blocks from the Gibraltar hospital, Genevieve Almeida, 33, ticked off a list of outrages. The residents have complained repeatedly to the government, she said, and nothing has been done. Some garbage cans still have no lids, and the area's wire fences are badly in need of repair.
When the monkeys are around, she and her neighbors are forced to leave their groceries in their cars, because the sight of a plastic shopping bag would almost certainly touch off a stampede. Windows stay shut and children indoors or, at least, under strict orders not to carry food.
Cars in the neighborhood are dented and scratched because of the monkeys. They act as if it is the height of hilarity to snatch clothes off the line and scram. They also steal bread and fruit from kitchen counters and delight in disrupting a social gathering or two. "In the middle of a pool party, they will come in and jump in the pool and ruin the party," Ms. Almeida said.
Once, a monkey was found sleeping comfortably in a man's bed.
While usually harmless, the monkeys, which weigh about 35 pounds, can turn vicious, especially if their babies are threatened. A little girl was recently bitten by one, and the residents photographed the wound as proof, Ms. Almeida said. "They are part of the neighborhood now," she said of the monkeys.
Peter Caruana, the chief minister of Gibraltar, said the government was trying to deal with monkeys that run amok. But the underlying problem is that there are too many monkeys, and people don't want to see them culled.
"Really we are now facing an almost certain need for a culling operation," Mr. Caruana said. "There is no huge enforcement effort, by default rather than by design. The dimension of the problem is huge."
But Mr. Shaw and a clutch of residents say the government cannot have it both ways: If tourists and taxi drivers are permitted to feed them, despite the law, then people must learn to live with monkey mischief.
Plus, monkeys that can roam, he said, will roam, and there is little the government can do to hem them in.
"What part of 'free ranging' do they not understand?" Mr. Shaw asked, with a laugh.