How monkeys arrived on the Rock is, for the most part, a story lost in time. The Barbary macaque was once widespread throughout Europe before the last Ice Age. However, it was still very unlikely that Gibraltar would become home to the remnants of those European populations. One could speculate that they were brought here by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans – or more plausibly the Moors, who actually occupied the Rock for the longest period of time. But all would be speculation, as there is no documented evidence to support any of these hypotheses.
Historic origins
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