Born to be Wild: Ifrane
Rangers keep watch day and night over the largest – and last – population of wild Barbary macaques.
The habitat of Barbary Macaques in the wild
The first Born to be Wild project that AAP set up together with IFAW and numerous concerned organisations and authorities in 2017 focused on Ifrane National Park in Morocco. Here, 80% of the remaining wild Barbary macaques live. Since 2017, park rangers have been preventing these animals from disappearing – and successfully. In fact, the population is growing again!
The approach in Ifrane
At the heart of the project is a team of inspired rangers operating in Ifrane National Park, a nature reserve in the Middle Atlas Mountains. These rangers patrol the park day and night to spot illegal activities and keep an eye on the 15 groups of Barbary macaques that live closest to the park’s tourist zones. They also listen to the concerns of local fruit farmers and educate tourists.
Rangers conduct educational classes in schools around the national park to tell students about the usefulness of the Barbary macaque. In addition, local authorities receive training on how to successfully confiscate intercepted animals and learn about international agreements such as CITES.
Achieved so far
Scouts at the park have been keeping accurate records of the size of the groups of Barbary macaques. About 10 to 15 years ago, half of all young animals disappeared from the groups living closest to tourist areas. Now we see a clear growth. Compared to then, the most affected groups have now more than doubled in number. This is a great result of the work in Ifrane National Park.
During the first three years of Born to be Wild (2017-2020), the population grew by 9.5% annually. That means the monitored groups have grown by 32% in total– an increase of 86 Barbary macaques. The actual impact is even greater, as several groups have split into two groups due to growth. Some have moved to new areas that are not being studied and therefore not counted.
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Behind these figures are many extraordinary stories. Like the time in November 2019 when candy sellers in the park saw a young Barbary macaque being taken away in a car. They knew what to do and thanks to cooperation with authorities, police and the scouts, the poachers could be apprehended, fined and the animal returned to the group within 24 hours. A group of rangers was also able to prevent animals from being smuggled after being alerted by alert villagers. The preventive effect of such actions, which occurred regularly during the project, contributed immensely to its success. voorkwamen tijdens het project, heeft een enorme bijdrage geleverd aan het succes. __________________Rangers also improved cooperation between local authorities thanks to our agreement with the Moroccan Department of Water and Forests. Promising results have been achieved in the area of illegal logging and the local police have been supported in various ways. Numerous campfires have also been put out with the help of the fire brigade to prevent further habitat loss.
Follow-up in Ifrane National Park
The data collected by the rangers provided valuable scientific data on the population of Barbary macaques in Ifrane National Park. Consider the effects of tourism on the Barbary macaques, interaction with the monkeys, the impact of the rangers’ tourism efforts and the special case of a baby macaque adopted by a neighbouring group. These findings have been and are being published in scientific journals to demonstrate the effectiveness of the project. It also allows us to make informed recommendations for further protection of the Barbary ape and other endangered species.