PRIMATES
Our closest relatives, primates have large, complex brains, the ability
to use their hands for locomotion and feeding, and in most cases
highly social behaviour.
BARBARY MACAQUE Macaca sylvanus
Identification This is the only primate in Africa north of the Sahara. It
is relatively large (males are larger than females) and no tail is visible.
The coat is thick and yellowish-grey to grey-brown. The face is naked
and dark flesh-coloured.
Size Shoulder height 40–50 cm.
Weight 6 –13 k g.
Habitat and Behaviour The Barbary Macaque is mainly confined to
rugged, isolated, scrub-covered mountain slopes, gorges and montane
forests dominated by cedar and oak trees. Barbary Macaques eat
a wide variety of plants. Cedars are of particular importance in the
harsh winter months. Troops may include several adult males and
7–40 individuals. Home range sizes for each troop vary from as little
as 25 ha to as much as 1,200 ha. A single young weighing 400 g is
born in February–June after a gestation of 210 days.
Distribution and Status Previously more widely spread in North
Africa, this macaque is now found only in isolated locations in
northern Morocco and Algeria. As much as 75 per cent of the former
population probably persists in the Middle Atlas range in Morocco.
Smaller populations are located in the High Atlas and Rif (Morocco),
and Petite Kabylie and Grande Kabylie (Algeria). It is likely that less
than 20,000 individuals survive.
Conservation Areas Talassemtane R, Toubkal NP (Morocco); Djurdjura
NP, Taza NP, Babor R, Chrea NP, Gouraya NP (Algeria).