Macaca sylvanus

The Barbary Macaque is the only surviving primate in Africa north of the Sahara desert, the only native species of primate to occur in Europe, and the only member of the genus Macaca that can be found outside Asia. The species was once an inhabitant of parts of Europe and all of North Africa (Delson 1980; Camperio Ciani 1986). In historic times it was it was widespread throughout north Africa from Libya to Morocco, but its current distribution is limited to small relict patches of forest and scrub in Algeria and Morocco (Fa 1984; Camperio Ciani 1986; Menard and Vallet 1993; Scheffrahn et al. 1993). A semi wild population lives in Gibraltar, which is a long established introduced population (Fa 1981; von Starck 1990; Hodges and Cortes 2006). In Morocco, M. sylvanus can still be found in the Rif mountains (northern Morocco) and the Middle and High Atlas mountains (central and southern Morocco). In Algeria, it is found in the Tellian Atlas (Petite Kabylie and Grande Kabylie mountains, and an isolated population in the Chréa National Park) (northern Algeria). More specifically, in Morocco the High Atlas populations (two anciently separated populations) are found in the Bou Tferda valley to Demnat region and around the Ourika Valley, respectively; the Rif populations are primarily on Mounts Lakraa, Tissouka, Tazoute, Bouhacham, and Djebel Moussa. In Algeria, from west to east, Barbary Macaque populations are distributed as follows: (a) Chiffa gorges (Chréa National Park); (b) Djurdjura forests and rocky cliffs (Djurdjura National Park, Grande-Kabylie); (c) Akfadou forests, including a small ‘subpopulation’ recently settled in degraded forests and maquis, near El-Kseur (Grande-Kabylie and Petite-Kabylie); (d) Cap Carbon, Aiguades and Pic des Singes (Gouraya National Park; Béjaïa, Petite-Kabylie); (e) Chaabet-el-Akhra Gorges (Kherrata; Béjaïa, Petite-Kabylie); (f) ‘Massif des Babors’ forests (Sétif and Béjaïa, Petite-Kabylie); (g) Guerrouch forest (Taza National Park; Jijel, Petite-Kabylie). Additionally, a Barbary Macaque population might still occur in Djebel Bouzegza (Boumerdes, Grande-Kabylie) (F. Belbachir pers. comm. 2007).