Monkeys Tales explores the human-macaque experience in Gibraltar using archival, historic, and contemporary sources. On one hand, the Gibraltar macaque is viewed as iconic: a living legacy and symbolism of Britishness. On the other hand, the monkey is considered as a pest, a nuisance, and at times, a menace. The ongoing tension that exists for over three centuries sets the backdrop for showcasing the Gibraltar macaque on the global stage.
As every visitor to Gibraltar knows meeting the monkeys face-to-face is among the things to see while on the Rock. Monkey Tales will add to that experience by taking you on a journey through time from their early appearance in Gibraltar, during Moorish times to today. You will learn the answers to both fact and fiction about the only “wild monkeys in Europe.” Is there a monkey cemetery located in Gibraltar? Is it true that every Governor of Gibraltar has issued at least one edit about the monkeys? Why was Tony the Ape Dictator Executed in 1944? Is there a tunnel from Gibraltar to North Africa, and is that where the monkeys bury their dead? What do the ravens and the Tower of London, and Gibraltar apes have in common? Is it true that the monkeys can speak? When, and why, did the monkeys have names and serial numbers in the British Army? Why did Churchill order more monkeys to be imported from North Africa during the Second World War? What is the Monkey Book, and who wrote it? Are the monkeys actually the Lions of Gibraltar? Are the Gibraltar macaques the earliest example of primate conservation in the World?