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Much to their chagrin, Gibraltar’s tourist authorities, who advertise
the Rock’s Barbary apes as the only colony of wild primates in Western Europe,
are going to have to rewrite their brochures. Spanish environmentalists
have discovered a group of baboons living happily in the wild in the neighbouring
Spanish province of Cadiz.

In 1972, 60 baboons, Papio anubis, escaped from the Auto Safari Andaluz
safari park when it closed down. The owners of the park made several attempts
to recapture the fugitive baboons but failed, and local hunters killed 40
of them. The survivors went unnoticed until environmentalists carrying out
a survey of the region’s flora and fauna discovered telltale piles of neatly
peeled pine cones.

According to the FEPG, the local federation of ecologists, the baboons
survived by hiding out in inaccessible rocky areas. ‘They seem to have adapted
perfectly in these 20 years to the natural environment,’ says Juan Clavero.
‘Observation of the group indicates that some of the members are quite young
and are obviously the offspring of the original safari park inhabitants.’

The rocky terrain is similar to the baboons’ natural habitat in the
sub-Saharan regions of Africa, and it offers a similar diet of insects and
nuts. The baboons sleep in a cave and make short forays to feed.

The FEPG hopes to win official protection for the baboons. The federation
claims that if Gibraltar’s apes, which were introduced during the Moorish
occupation of Spain, have done little damage to the local flora and fauna,
their cousins, the baboons, should be given a similar chance.