Distribution, Population Status and Ecology of the Endangered Barbary Macaque Macaca sylvanus in North Africa

Abderrazak El Alami¹ , Els Van Lavieren² , Mourad Ahmim³ , Salwa Namous⁴ , Abderrazzak Fattah⁵ , Mohamed Znari⁶ , Abderrahman Chait⁷

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.8 , Issue.6 , pp.69-77, Dec-2021

Online published on Dec 31, 2021

Copyright © Abderrazak El Alami, Els Van Lavieren, Mourad Ahmim, Salwa Namous, Abderrazzak Fattah, Mohamed Znari, Abderrahman Chait . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
The Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus currently survives in small fragmented isolates in Morocco and Algeria. Between 65 and 75 % of the world’s population occurred in the central zone of the Moroccan Middle Atlas. In Morocco, the species survives today in the Rif, the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas mountains. In Algeria it occurs in three areas: Chiffa, Grande Kabylie and Petite Kabylie. Free-ranging Barbary macaques are currently found in Gibraltar. In Europe, there are three major free ranging captive colonies of Barbary macaques in France and Germany. In the early 1980s, the total population size was estimated to be 14 000–23 000. Several recent studies indicated a dramatic decline of the Barbary macaque populations and concluded this decline on habitat destruction, impact of livestock grazing, the population fragmentation, the illegal capture of infant macaques, and the effects of human activities on the Barbary macaques’ behaviour. The species is listed in CITES Appendix I and is classified as an endangered species on the IUCN’s Red List. Barbary macaques are an essential component of North Africa biodiversity, contributing to forest regeneration and ecosystem health. This paper aims to determine the current distribution, status and ecology of the Barbary macaque in Morocco and Algeria, to identify the potential threats to the species, and to make recommendations for the protection of the species in North Africa.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Barbary macaque, North Africa, distribution, population status, decline, conservation

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