CoP17 Prop. 13

Transfer of Barbary Macaque Macaca sylvanus from Appendix II to Appendix I
Proponents: European Union and Morocco
Summary: The Barbary Macaque Macaca sylvanus is a medium-sized monkey that occurs in northern
Algeria and Morocco in North Africa and also as a relatively small (ca. 200) semi-wild population on Gibraltar(United Kingdom) presumed to have been introduced there. Its distribution is discontinuous. The largest
population is found in the Middle Atlas of Morocco, with smaller populations in the High Atlas and Rif inMorocco and at a number of scattered sites in the Grand Kabylie and Petite Kabylie, and the Chiffa gorges inAlgeria. The species occurs in a variety of wooded habitats but is now largely confined to montane forestsand inaccessible scrub-clad rocky areas and gorges; altitudinal range is from sea level to 3500m. Females
mature at between 3.5 and four years of age and give birth generally to a single young with an averageinterbirth interval of 1.3 years. Generation time is calculated as eight years1. The species occurs in a numberof protected areas.
Habitat loss, alteration and fragmentation are believed to be the principal factors affecting the species. Illegal
collection of live young is considered to have a significant impact on populations in some areas, particularly
where animals are habituated to the presence of humans. There is no evidence that these are enteringinternational trade.
It is widely agreed that the global population has declined. Recent population estimates, based in part on
surveys carried out in the Middle Atlas and the main parts of the range in Algeria, are of a global population(excluding Gibraltar) of between ca. 8000 and 11,500, of which 6500 to 8000 are in Morocco and theremainder in Algeria. In the early 1990s the total population was estimated at between 10,000 and 16,000. A
1975 study estimated a global population of between 14,500 and 22,500 at that time, with between 9000 and17,000 in Morocco and up to 5500 in Algeria2.
Very little trade (including confiscated specimens) is recorded in the CITES Trade Database: 31 live
specimens in total between 2005 and 2014; no trade from a range State has been reported since 2010 andvery little before then. Spain reported the import of 15 individuals as “confiscated” in the period 2005 to 2010;
eight from Morocco, one from Algeria and six of unknown origin.
Barbary Macaque was categorised as Endangered by IUCN in 2008, and has been included in the Orderlisting for Primates in Appendix II since 1977. The species is legally protected in Algeria and Morocco.
Analysis: The Barbary Macaque has a reasonably extensive range. Its estimated population (8000 to11,200) is larger than the guideline figure given for a small population in Res. Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP16). The
population is agreed to have been declining; the best available information indicates that the decline has
been of the order of 30% in the past three generations (24 years), which is below the guideline figure for amarked decline in the Resolution. It would appear therefore that the species does not meet the biologicalcriteria for inclusion in Appendix I.
References:
Information not referenced in the Summary section is from the Supporting Statement.
1 Butynski, T.M., Cortes, J., Waters, S., Fa, J., Hobbelink, M.E., van Lavieren, E., Belbachir, F., Cuzin, F., de Smet, K.,Mouna, M., de Iongh, H., Menard, N. & Camperio-Ciani, A. (2008) Macaca sylvanus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species 2008.
2 Lee, P.C., Thornback, J. & Bennett, E.L. (1988) Threatened Primates of Africa. The IUCN Red Data Book. IUCN Gland,
Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

1