Mugger monkey! Moment fearless macaque jumps up and snatches woman’s bag from her hand in Gibraltar
- Mark Carroll filmed the incident on the Rock of Gibraltar after spotting standoff
- After a few attempts, the monkey grabs the bag before rummaging through it
- The Barbary macaque scatters the bag’s items as it searches for some food
- Eventually, the animal admits defeat and throws the remains of the bag back
Video footage shows the moment a cheeky monkey approaches a woman and steals her bag.
Mark Carroll filmed the clip at cable cars on the famous Rock of Gibraltar after spotting a tourist in a standoff with a large Barbary macaque.
As Carroll filmed, the monkey leapt up, snatched the bag and started rifling through it looking for food.
The incident, filmed on the famous Rock of Gibraltar, shows the monkey jumping up and stealing the bag from a tourist, before ripping it open and rummaging through in search of some food
The cheeky monkey scatters items over the floor after ripping the bag. Towards the end of the video, the monkey, who is left with an empty paper bag, throws it back in the direction of the tourist
The incident, filmed on November 4, shows the female tourist standing on a rooftop, clutching her bag in her right hand as the monkey stands opposite her.
She spins around as the animal attempts to snatch the bag from her, while a man watches on helplessly.
After a few moments of the woman spinning and trying to turn away, the monkey jumps up and grabs hold of the bag, ripping it from her hand.
The Barbary macaque lands on the ground with the bag and begins rummaging through it, in search of some food.
It rips open the bag, spreading the contents over the floor, while the woman and man watch on.
When another man, who appears to be a staff member, approaches, the monkey grabs hold of what remains of the bag and jumps up onto a wall, dropping even more items in the process.
Left with just an empty paper bag, the monkey throws it towards the man and continues moving away.
Mr Carroll said: ‘The monkey approached the woman when it saw her bag and jumped to get it before ripping it open for a proper look.
‘I’d say there were just a few personal bits, I think there was a glasses case and other items but no food.
‘I was shocked as we had just arrived off the cable cars.’
Originally from the Atlas Mountains and the Rif Mountains of Morocco, the Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the only wild monkey population on the European continent.
Approximately 230 Barbary macaques are thought to live on the Rock of Gibraltar.
It is not the first time tourists to Gibraltar have been caught out by the cheeky monkeys.
Lee Ann and her fiancé Gabriel (pictured) had travelled to Gibraltar to get married on August 22. They took a trip to the Upper Rock prior to their ceremony, where a macaque monkey too a particular interest in Gabriel’s backpack
Lee Ann and her fiancé Gabriel travelled to the British overseas territory to tie the knot in the Botanical Gardens in 2020.
But before their dream wedding, both families took a trip to the Upper Rock when a macaque monkey stood on top of Gabriel’s shoulder and unzipped his backpack, before pulling out his birth certificate, which also contained his passport – the loss of which could have derailed his marriage.
Luckily, Gabriel is seen placing his foot onto his birth certificate to stop the monkey or any of its accomplices making off with his important documents.
Lee Ann’s mother Dr Fui Mee Quek said that Gabriel had not been the first victim of the monkeys and that Lee Ann’s sister had also been targeted.
Both Gabriel’s birth certificate and passport were saved and he married Lee Ann only a few hours after the attack.
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