---
title: "Barbary Macaque"
description: "Macaca sylvanus — Mammals. The Barbary macaque is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/barbary-macaque
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Barbary Macaque

> Macaca sylvanus — Mammals. The Barbary macaque is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar.

- Scientific name: *Macaca sylvanus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammals)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `mountains` (Mountains)
- iNaturalist observations: 3280
- Wikidata: [Q199962](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q199962)
- iNaturalist taxon: [43452](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43452)

## Names

- en: Barbary Macaque
- de: Berberaffe
- es: Mona De Berber
- fr: Macaque de Barbarie
- nl: Berberaap
- pt: Macaco-de-gibraltar
- pl: Makak berberyjski

## Countries with the most observations

DZ (924), MA (875), ES (16)

## Summary

The Barbary macaque is a macaque species native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, along with a small introduced population in Gibraltar. It is the type species of the genus Macaca. From the Early Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene, until around 85–40,000 years ago, it was widely distributed in Europe. Today, the Barbary macaques in Gibraltar are the only Old World monkeys in Europe. About 300 individuals live on the Rock of Gibraltar. This population appears to be stable or increasing, while the North African population is declining.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_macaque

## Photo

![Barbary Macaque](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/barbary-macaque/medium.jpg)

Photo: Reuven Martin · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9299960

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/barbary-macaque?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).