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Region: Eurasia Class: Mammalia Order: Primata Family: Cercopithecidae Genus: Macaca Scientific Name: Macaca sylvanus
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Description:
Medium sized monkey with a stout body, strong limbs and no tail. Dispite the name, it is a monkey not an ape. 11-13 kg. Males are about 50% heavier than females.
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Distribution:
Morocco, Algeria and Gibraltar
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Habitat:
Treeless cliffs and alpine forests of oak and cedar
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Food:
Fruit, seeds, leaves, tubers and rhizomes and invertebrates; bark and pine needles are eaten in winter and acorns in autum and spring.
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Reproduction and Development:
The breeding season is usually in early winter. The spring months seem to represent a prominent peak in births after a gestation period of 5-7 months. Usually there is only one young born, occasionally twins. The almost hairless offspring weigh 450 g at birth, nurse for a year and are fully grown and mature at four. Their lifespan is approximately 30 years.
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Adaptations:
They associate in troops of about 24 individuals of both sexes and different ages. They are strong and brave in their own defense and have killed dogs in fair fights. The members of the genus macaca are agile both in trees and on the ground. They are mainly diurnal. Male barbary apes will pick up an infant and start to carry it on their back before approaching a more dominant male. This presumably decreases the likelihood of being attacked by the more dominant animal.
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Threats to Survival:
Hunted by humans. Young animals are sometimes killed by jackals, foxes and birds of prey.
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Status:
Vulnerable
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Zoo Diet:
Purina monkey feed chunks, mixed fruit and vegetables, bean sprouts or sprouts or hydroponic oats
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Store
Animal Fact Sheet
The New Tundra Trek