Along our journey through the Middle Atlas Mountains, we drove through cedar forests and were greeted with a surprise along the way. At a height of 1,650 metres, we stopped to watch a group of macaque monkeys feeding on the roadside. Apparently, it’s hit and miss as to whether travellers in their contemporary caravanserais will see the monkeys. If they’ve had a feed, they wander off into the forest and you miss the opportunity.
We were lucky and there they were enjoying a snack. What do they eat? Depending on the season, they dine on cedar bark, caterpillars and/or mushrooms. As with tourists who feed wild animals in other countries, the food they gave these monkeys was not the monkeys preferred food and it tends to rot their teeth. Be a responsible eco tourist and respect animals, their native habitats and preferred food sources.
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Of course, as with wild animals anywhere in the world, you should exercise caution. Some of the tourists got awfully close and chased them. Every monkey, including a mum and her baby, were a photo opportunity. They have become accustomed to tourists and might even depend on them for human snacks rather in addition to their natural foraging. I was aware of where I stepped because I didn’t want to raise the ire of the monkeys by treading on their tails.I certainly didn’t want to invite them to snack on my leg. It wouldn’t be very tasty anyway.
Julie, Rad & Maria | Baby Macaque Monkey: “Awww”
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