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What legend links Barbary macaques to British rule over Gibraltar?

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The Rock of Gibraltar rises steeply behind a coastal city, with green-blue water in the foreground and a partly cloudy sky above. — Gibraltar The rock of Gibraltar.

The legend surrounding the Barbary macaque states that British dominion over the Rock of Gibraltar will come to an end only when these monkeys are no longer present on the territory.123

These tailless, ground-dwelling primates—often incorrectly referred to as apes—have inhabited the Rock for hundreds of years. Because of this enduring legend, the macaques have historically been protected, first by the British Army and now by the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society.23