The Apes of Gibraltar

Gibraltar, the rock that stands guard over the entrance to the Med off the southern tip of Spain, has long had Barbary Apes roaming the mountain, or "high ground."

Gibraltar is a British colony.

Fifty years ago, while part of a group on a U.S. Navy training mission, I spent a night in the Azores. Shortly after we arrived, a United States Air Force plane landed. Its cargo consisted of apes which were tended to by U.S. Air Force "stewards."

We were told this was a "hush-hush" mission; that the United States was supplying apes for the British colony of Gibraltar because the apes on Gibraltar were dying off. So, why didn't the British get their own apes?

Well, the Spanish think Gibraltar should be part of their country. They don't like the fact that Gibraltar is a British colony. And there is an old legend which claims that when the apes of Gibraltar are gone, the British will leave.

The British did not want anyone to think they took the legend seriously by flying in apes to replace ones that had died, so the U.S. Air Force came to the rescue! We kept Gibraltar supplied with apes.

I had the privilege of spending a day on Gibraltar. While I did not get up to the "high ground" to see the apes, some of my friends did. They reported the apes acted quite friendly, but also had a tendency to grab food or purses from the unaware who got too close.


Now it seems "A renegade group of Gibraltar's Barbary apes has annoyed residents so much that" authorities plan to kill them. A few months ago, a "cluster" of these apes took up residence in a "beach-side area ... where they have been stealing food, entering rooms through open windows and harassing tourists..."

Ernest Britto, the territory's tourism manager, was the one who decided to kill this band of looters. "It is a last resort," said Britto, as he thinks they pose a danger to the public health. According to the Gibraltar Chronicle, two of the apes have already been caught and given lethal injections.


I don't care about Britain's colonial aims, but why kill these animals? Is there not a way of returning them to their original homes in Africa, or Morocco, or north Algeria? Maybe they could be placed in zoos around the world?

Actually, the best place for their relocation might be Florida's Disneyworld. Then the monkeys who inhabit our state legislature could drive down to Orlando and see what happened to their cousins when they harassed and stole from the people.