Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2009
The Barbary macaque Macaca sylvanus has been listed in the IUCN Red Data Book since 1975. This monkey is the only African non-human primate found north of the Sahara and the only member of its genus found outside Asia. It originally ranged throughout most of North Africa but its present and restricted distribution is the result of centuries of human interference and incursions into the once widespread primaeval habitats where it was common. It is now confined to a few pockets in Morocco and Algeria where it is threatened by further habitat destruction as well as hunting.