{
 "key": "macaques",
 "type": "guide",
 "language": "en",
 "url": "https://ouzoudexcursions.com/ouzoud-monkeys-barbary-macaques/",
 "json": "https://ouzoudexcursions.com/data/en/pages/macaques.json",
 "translations": {
  "en": "https://ouzoudexcursions.com/ouzoud-monkeys-barbary-macaques/",
  "fr": "https://ouzoudexcursions.com/fr/singes-ouzoud-macaques-de-barbarie/"
 },
 "title": "The Barbary macaques of Ouzoud: how to see them responsibly",
 "meta_title": "Ouzoud Monkeys: The Barbary Macaques and How to See Them",
 "description": "The monkeys at the Ouzoud Waterfalls are wild Barbary macaques, an endangered species. What science says about them and how to watch them without harm.",
 "summary": "The monkeys you meet at the Ouzoud Waterfalls are wild Barbary macaques, an Endangered species found only in Morocco and Algeria (plus an introduced group in Gibraltar). You will very likely see them along the paths and terraces. Watch them from a few metres away, keep food out of sight and never feed them: research at Ouzoud links tourist food to more aggression and to the troop splitting.",
 "updated": "2026-10-23",
 "highlights": [
  "Wild Barbary macaques, an Endangered species (IUCN), on CITES Appendix I since 2016",
  "The Ouzoud troop grew from 25 to 40 animals and split in two between 2003 and 2008",
  "Research links tourist feeding to stress, poorer health and more aggression",
  "Very likely to be seen along the paths and terraces, never guaranteed",
  "Keep at least 2 metres away, food hidden, no touching, no photos holding them",
  "Our local guides help you watch them calmly, at a distance"
 ],
 "facts": [],
 "itinerary": [],
 "includes": [],
 "excludes": [],
 "faq": [
  {
   "question": "Are there monkeys at the Ouzoud Waterfalls?",
   "answer": "Yes. A free-living troop of Barbary macaques lives around the Ouzoud Waterfalls, in the trees, on the cliffs and along the paths and terraces. They are wild animals, not a zoo or a show. The species is Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Researchers who followed the Ouzoud troop from 2003 to 2008 found that it grew from 25 to 40 animals and then split into two groups."
  },
  {
   "question": "What kind of monkeys are at Ouzoud?",
   "answer": "They are Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), sometimes wrongly called Barbary apes because they have only a short stub of a tail. They are the only macaques living outside Asia and the only non-human primates in Africa north of the Sahara. In the wild they live only in Morocco and Algeria; the group on the Rock of Gibraltar was introduced by people."
  },
  {
   "question": "Will I see monkeys at Ouzoud?",
   "answer": "Very likely, but it is never guaranteed. The troop is used to people and often comes close to the paths, the terraces and the olive trees around the falls. They are wild, though, and move where they want: on some visits they stay on the cliffs or out of sight. A local guide knows the places where they often gather and can help you look for them calmly."
  },
  {
   "question": "Can you feed the monkeys at Ouzoud?",
   "answer": "Please do not. We found no official rule banning it at Ouzoud, but the science is clear. A study of the Ouzoud troop links food from tourists and rubbish to more aggression and to the group splitting in two. In Ifrane, a group heavily fed by tourists had higher stress hormone levels, more hair loss in males and more signs of illness than a group living on natural food."
  },
  {
   "question": "Are the monkeys at Ouzoud dangerous?",
   "answer": "They are not aggressive by nature, but they are wild animals that can bite or scratch, especially when food is involved or when someone gets too close to a mother and baby. Research at Ouzoud found that aggression rose sharply in areas rich in human food. Keep a few metres away, do not hold out food, keep children close and you are very unlikely to have any problem."
  },
  {
   "question": "Are Barbary macaques endangered?",
   "answer": "Yes. The Barbary macaque is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, a status first given in 2008 after an estimated decline of about 50% over 24 years. In 2016, CITES moved the species to Appendix I, which bans commercial international trade. Estimates published at that time put the wild population at about 6,500 to 9,100 animals in Morocco and Algeria."
  },
  {
   "question": "Can I take photos with the monkeys at Ouzoud?",
   "answer": "Take photos of them, not with them. Use a zoom from a few metres away and do not lure them with food, hold them or put one on your shoulder for a picture. Primate specialists at the IUCN warn that pictures of people touching or holding primates make them look safe to handle and suitable as pets, which feeds the trade in infants."
  },
  {
   "question": "What should I do if a macaque grabs my bag or food?",
   "answer": "Let go and step back. Do not pull, chase or hit the animal: a struggle over food is exactly when a bite can happen. Most of the time it wants food and drops a bag once it finds nothing to eat. Then ask your guide or a café owner for help. If you are bitten or scratched, wash the wound with soap and water and see a doctor."
  },
  {
   "question": "Is it safe to bring children near the monkeys at Ouzoud?",
   "answer": "Yes, with simple rules. Keep young children by your side and hold their hand when macaques are near. Explain before the visit that they must not touch, chase or feed the monkeys, or hold out snacks. Avoid walking with open crisps or biscuits. Children love watching them, and a calm distance of a few metres makes it a good moment for everyone."
  }
 ],
 "content_markdown": "The monkeys at the Ouzoud Waterfalls are wild Barbary macaques (*Macaca sylvanus*), an Endangered species that lives in the wild only in Morocco and Algeria. A free-living troop has its home around the falls, and you will very likely cross paths with it on the trails, the terraces and in the olive trees. The right way to enjoy them is also the simplest: watch from a few metres away, keep food out of sight and never feed them. A study of this troop links food given by tourists to more aggression and to the group splitting in two.\n\nWe take travellers from Marrakech to Ouzoud, and for many of them, children above all, the macaques are a highlight of the day. We wrote this page because a lot of what circulates online about them is vague or wrong. Below, we separate clearly what scientists have studied at Ouzoud itself from what is known about the species in general, and every scientific fact is listed with its source at the end of the page.\n\n## Who are the monkeys of Ouzoud?\n\nThey are Barbary macaques, a species with a few unusual distinctions:\n\n- **The only macaques outside Asia.** There are about twenty species of macaques, and all the others live in Asia.\n- **The only non-human primates in Africa north of the Sahara.** No other monkey or ape lives wild in North Africa.\n- **Almost tailless.** They have only a short stub of a tail, about 1 to 2 cm long. That is why people sometimes call them \"Barbary apes\", but they are monkeys.\n- **A small, broken range.** In the wild they live only in Morocco (the Rif, the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas) and in northern Algeria, in small and fragmented patches of forest. The well-known group on the Rock of Gibraltar is managed and was introduced by people: genetic studies show that captured animals were brought there over the past few centuries.\n\n### Why is the species endangered?\n\nThe IUCN Red List classified the Barbary macaque as **Endangered** in 2008, after an estimated decline of about 50% over 24 years. A later assessment, published in 2020, again found a decline of more than 50% over three generations. The species is thought to have numbered more than 20,000 in the 1970s. Estimates published in 2016 put the wild population at about 6,500 to 9,100 animals; other counts differ, so treat any single number with caution.\n\nThe main threats named by researchers are the loss and degradation of forests (logging, overgrazing, drought), the fragmentation of populations, conflicts with farmers, decreasing water and, above all, the illegal capture of infants for the pet trade. The species was the most frequently seized live CITES-listed mammal in the European Union. In **2016**, at the CITES conference in Johannesburg, a proposal from Morocco and the European Union moved the Barbary macaque to **Appendix I**, the highest level of protection, which bans commercial international trade.\n\n### How do they live?\n\nIn the wild, Barbary macaques live in mixed groups of males and females, usually around two dozen animals but sometimes many more. Females inherit their rank from their mothers. Males take an active part in caring for infants, grooming and playing with them, and adults look after the young of the whole group, not only their own. Most births happen between April and June, usually one baby at a time, so late spring and early summer are when you are most likely to see very small infants clinging to their mothers.\n\nTheir natural diet changes with the seasons: leaves, seeds and caterpillars in spring, fruit, roots and fungi in summer, acorns in autumn, and leaves, seeds and bark in winter. They store food in cheek pouches, and in doing so they spread seeds through the forest. None of this natural diet includes bread, crisps or peanuts, which is part of why feeding them matters.\n\n## What do we know about the Ouzoud troop?\n\nHere we switch from general species facts to what has been studied at Ouzoud itself. The key source is a peer-reviewed study by Abderrazak El Alami and Abderrahman Chait, published in the *Revue de primatologie* in 2016, based on seven counts made between February 2003 and December 2008. Its main findings:\n\n| Finding | What the study reports |\n|---|---|\n| Group size | The original group grew from **25 to 40 animals** between February 2003 and February 2007 |\n| Split | During 2007 it divided into **two groups**, of 23 and 13 animals |\n| Where the new group went | The smaller group moved to the cliff on the north side of the Oued Ouzoud, with a home range partly overlapping the first |\n| Why it grew | Births explained 92% of the growth (33 births and 3 arrivals over the period) |\n| Why it split | Competition for food, especially among females, increased by food from tourists and from rubbish dumps |\n| Aggression | Aggression became much more frequent in the areas rich in human food |\n| Tolerance of people | The macaques let people come within less than 1 metre |\n| Habitat | The authors describe the degradation of the habitat as advanced |\n\nTwo honest limits. First, these counts are now more than fifteen years old: **nobody has published a current count** of the macaques at Ouzoud, and we do not give one. Second, the study measured group size and structure, not health; the health effects of feeding come from research elsewhere in Morocco, described below.\n\nThe study also noted that in summer the macaques shifted their range away from the wetter zone near the falls, which was then crowded with visitors. In other words, even a troop used to people adjusts its life around the busiest places.\n\n## Where and when will you meet them at Ouzoud?\n\nVery likely, but never with a guarantee. The troop is used to visitors and often comes close to the paved path, the stone walls, the terraces of the cafés and the olive trees at the top of the site. They gather where food can be found, which unfortunately means near people eating. On some visits they sit on the cliff edges above the gorge; on others they stay out of sight for a while. They are wild animals and decide for themselves where to be.\n\nVideo: A Barbary macaque above the Ouzoud gorge https://www.youtube.com/shorts/csoQJFuwuzQ\nWe do not give exact spots or times because they change, and the honest answer is that the macaques find you more often than you find them. A local guide who walks the site regularly knows where the troop tends to be on a given day, and can help you watch them in a quieter place rather than in the middle of a crowd holding out food.\n\n## Why should you not feed the macaques?\n\nThere is no official sign or rule at Ouzoud that we could find banning it, and you will see people doing it. We still ask every guest not to, and the reason is science, not etiquette. In plain words:\n\n- **It makes them more aggressive.** At Ouzoud, researchers recorded far more aggression in the areas rich in human food. Fights over a handful of peanuts can also end on a visitor's hand.\n- **It can break up the group.** The Ouzoud study links food from tourists and rubbish to stronger competition between females and to the troop splitting in two.\n- **It harms their health.** In Ifrane National Park, Laëtitia Maréchal and colleagues compared a group heavily fed by tourists with a group living on natural food (2012 data, published in *PLOS ONE* in 2016). Food from tourists made up on average 44.6% of the fed group's feeding. The fed animals were larger, and the fed males had more hair loss and higher levels of stress hormones. Lameness and diarrhoea were also seen more often in the fed group, although the authors did not test those differences statistically. The authors conclude that feeding by tourists may overall harm the macaques' health.\n- **It makes them dependent.** Animals that learn to expect food from people spend their day near roads, cafés and bins. Researchers have also observed Barbary macaques eating plastic litter.\n\nAnother study in Ifrane, published in *Biological Conservation* in 2011, found that male macaques scratched themselves more, a sign of anxiety, as the number of tourists grew and with every kind of interaction: neutral, feeding or aggressive. Only aggressive interactions raised their stress hormones. Even friendly contact is not neutral for them.\n\n## How should you behave around the macaques?\n\nOur rules, based on the research above and on official advice for the same species in Gibraltar:\n\n1. **Keep your distance.** We ask guests to stay at least 2 metres away, and more when you can. There is no official distance at Ouzoud; this is our own rule of thumb. Researchers advising the travel industry recommend a minimum distance from wild primates. Since the Ouzoud macaques tolerate people within less than 1 metre, it is up to you to keep the gap.\n2. **Hide food and plastic.** Keep snacks, fruit and bottles in a closed bag. Plastic bags rustle, and macaques have learned what they contain.\n3. **Do not stare.** In Barbary macaques, a steady stare is a threat signal. Look at them, but do not lock eyes. Also know that bared teeth, which look like a smile to us, signal submission or fear in macaques: a grin does not mean to them what it means to us.\n4. **Give mothers and babies extra space.** Gibraltar's health authority notes that macaques may bite when they feel threatened, especially when protecting food or young.\n5. **Keep children close.** Hold the hand of young children when macaques are near, and explain beforehand: no touching, no chasing, no snacks held out.\n6. **No touching, no holding.** Do not pet them, lift them or let one climb on you.\n7. **Use the bins, or take your rubbish back.** The Ouzoud study names rubbish dumps as a source of food that adds to competition in the troop.\n\n## What if a macaque grabs something?\n\nIt happens, usually to someone carrying food or a rustling bag. Let go and step back. Do not pull, chase or hit the animal: a tug of war over food is exactly when bites happen. Most of the time the macaque is looking for something to eat and drops the bag once it finds nothing. Then ask your guide or a nearby café owner for help to get it back.\n\nIf you are bitten or scratched, follow the advice of Gibraltar's health authority for the same species: wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, and see a doctor or a clinic even if it looks minor, to prevent infection.\n\n## How do you photograph the macaques well?\n\nGood photos and respect for the animals go together:\n\n- **Zoom rather than approach.** A phone at 2x or 3x zoom, or a camera with a short telephoto, lets you fill the frame from a few metres away.\n- **No flash.** Daylight is enough at Ouzoud, and a flash in the face startles animals at close range.\n- **No luring.** Do not hold out food, click your tongue or wave to make them turn towards you. The 2011 Ifrane study found that even low-level contact, such as photographing them, was linked to more signs of anxiety.\n- **Wait for natural moments.** Grooming, a mother carrying her baby, a macaque watching the falls from the cliff: patience gives far better pictures than a staged pose.\n- **Get down to their level.** Crouching at a distance gives a more natural angle than shooting down from above.\n\n### Why not a photo holding a macaque?\n\nYou will see pictures online of visitors with a macaque on their shoulder. We ask our guests not to take them. The IUCN Primate Specialist Group's guidelines on responsible images explain that pictures of people holding or standing very close to primates give the false impression that touching them is safe, and suggest that primates make suitable pets. For the Barbary macaque, this matters a lot: infants are taken from the wild for the pet trade, and the species has been used as a photo prop for tourists. Photos of a macaque on a branch, taken from a respectful distance, carry no such message.\n\n## Why do videos online show people feeding them?\n\nBecause it happens every day at Ouzoud, and it makes a striking clip. Our own video below shows how close a macaque can come to a lunch table on a terrace. That closeness is precisely the result of years of feeding. We ask our guests not to add to it: enjoy the moment, keep your plate to yourself and let the macaque go back to its own food.\n\nVideo: Lunch at Ouzoud, with a macaque nearby https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GW7yBOD9IY8\n## What do local guides do with the macaques?\n\nA guide does not make the macaques appear, and a good one does not feed them to make sure you get a photo. What a local guide does is know the site: where the troop often rests, which quieter spots let you watch them away from the crowd, and how to read their behaviour, for example when a mother is nervous or when a male is getting tense around food. The guides who work with us do not feed or handle the macaques, and ask guests not to either.\n\nOn our [tour with a local guide](https://ouzoudexcursions.com/ouzoud-tour-with-local-guide/), the guide walks with your group down to the falls and back, and the macaques are part of the visit: time to watch them calmly, with explanations about the species and the troop. You can read more about what a guide does on that page, and about the whole site in our [Ouzoud travel guide](https://ouzoudexcursions.com/ouzoud-waterfalls-guide/).\n\n## How can your visit help, not harm?\n\nResponsible tourism at Ouzoud is simple and works on three levels:\n\n- **The macaques.** Watch, do not feed, do not touch. Endangered species do not need our snacks; they need their habitat and fewer infants taken for trade.\n- **The litter.** Rubbish feeds the macaques and spoils the site. The falls are classified nationally as a Site of Biological and Ecological Interest, and tourism has left waste in places. Take your rubbish back to the vehicle if a bin is full.\n- **Local businesses.** The people of Ouzoud live from visitors: terrace restaurants, boat operators, guides, small shops. Eating lunch on a terrace, taking a boat or hiring a local guide spreads the benefit of your visit, without anyone needing to feed a monkey to earn a living.\n\nIf you are still deciding whether the day trip suits you, our page [is Ouzoud worth it](https://ouzoudexcursions.com/are-ouzoud-waterfalls-worth-it/) gives an honest answer, and the [map of the falls](https://ouzoudexcursions.com/ouzoud-waterfalls-map/) shows the paths and viewpoints.\n\n## Our private Ouzoud tour\n\nWe run private day trips from Marrakech to Ouzoud, with your group alone in the vehicle. Prices are per vehicle for the whole group:\n\n| Offer | 1 to 7 people (minivan) | 8 to 17 people (minibus) |\n|---|---|---|\n| [Private tour](https://ouzoudexcursions.com/private-ouzoud-waterfalls-tour/) with a local guide at the falls | 220 € | 330 € |\n| Private transport with driver, free time at the falls | 180 € | 250 € |\n| Optional local guide, added to transport | 40 € | 80 € |\n\nPickup is at your hotel around 8:00, about 3 hours' drive each way, and around 3 to 4 hours at the falls. Booking is instant online with a 50% deposit, and cancellation is free up to 48 hours before.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [IUCN, \"Deforestation spells doom for Barbary macaque\" (2009): Endangered, range, threats](https://iucn.org/content/deforestation-spells-doom-barbary-macaque)\n- [El Alami, Van Lavieren and Chait, \"The major threats to the Endangered Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus in North Africa\", European Journal of Ecology 8(2), 2022: decline of more than 50% over three generations, range, threats, CITES Appendix I](https://journals.ku.edu/EuroJEcol/article/view/16246)\n- [Mongabay, \"International trade in Barbary macaques banned\" (29 September 2016): CITES CoP17 decision, Appendix I, population estimate, Endangered in 2008 after a 50% decline over 24 years, photo props, EU seizures](https://news.mongabay.com/2016/09/international-trade-in-barbary-macaques-banned/)\n- [CITES CoP17 Proposal 13 (Morocco and European Union): transfer of Macaca sylvanus to Appendix I](https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/prop/060216/E-CoP17-Prop-13.pdf)\n- [El Alami and Chait, \"Démographie du magot dans le site touristique des cascades d'Ouzoud\", Revue de primatologie 7, 2016 (in French): the Ouzoud troop, 2003 to 2008](https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/2593)\n- [Maréchal, Semple, Majolo and MacLarnon, \"Assessing the effects of tourist provisioning on the health of wild Barbary macaques in Morocco\", PLOS ONE 11(5), 2016: Ifrane](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4874683/)\n- [Maréchal et al., \"Impacts of tourism on anxiety and physiological stress levels in wild male Barbary macaques\", Biological Conservation 144(9), 2011: summary by the Center for Zoo Animal Welfare](https://czaw.org/?p=3067)\n- [REF 2014 impact case study, \"Effects of tourism on wild primates\" (University of Roehampton): minimum distance and no physical contact recommended in travel-industry guidance](https://impact.ref.ac.uk/CaseStudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=20467)\n- [Natural History Museum, London, \"Barbary macaques: Europe and north Africa's last monkeys\": only macaque outside Asia, Gibraltar, tail, diet, shared infant care, population history, plastic litter](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/barbary-macaques-europe-and-north-africas-last-monkeys.html)\n- [Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan), Macaca sylvanus: range, tail, group size, matrilineal rank, seasonal diet, births from April to June](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Macaca_sylvanus/)\n- [New England Primate Conservancy, Barbary macaque: only non-human primate in Africa north of the Sahara, stare as threat, bared teeth as submission, cheek pouches, male care](https://neprimateconservancy.org/barbary-macaque/)\n- [IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, Best Practice Guidelines for Responsible Images of Non-Human Primates (2021), summary by Projeto GAP](https://www.projetogap.org/en/news/best-practice-guidelines-for-responsible-images-of-non-human-primates/)\n- [Gibraltar Health Authority, advice on the macaques: bites, feeding, touching, first aid](https://www.gha.gi/?p=34210)\n- [Wikipedia, Cascades d'Ouzoud (Site of Biological and Ecological Interest, waste from tourism; in French)](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascades_d%27Ouzoud)",
 "offer": "tour"
}