GIBRALTAR’s monkeys have started eating mud to settle their stomachs after consuming fast food from tourists, a new study finds.
Scientists have discovered that the animals are frequently eating mud and are not treating the incidents as isolated nor a result of simple curiosity.
Rather they believe that the mud consumption is alleviating digestive issues that the monkeys are facing because of the greasy, salty and sugary food that they are eating, which they get from tourists.
The animals are usually fed by local authorities who provide them with fruit, vegetables and seeds daily but they manage to get their hands on additional food from visitors who are often seen feeding them crisps, chocolate, ice cream, salty peanuts, bread, juice and other snacks.
They do so despite being told not to touch nor feed the monkeys.
While investigators are not yet certain that the animals’ new behaviour is down to their fast food consumption, their evidence shows a correlation between interaction with tourists and mud eaten.
This evidence was gathered between summer 2022 and spring 2024 and revealed that almost a fifth of the food consumed by the monkeys was provided by tourists.
Those living nearer to the top of the Rock were twice as likely to eat this type of food and were also those most likely to eat mud.
During the high tourist season when the availability of human food grows, more monkeys eat mud; in winter the animals were found to be 40% less likely to consume food from tourists and more than 30% less likely to eat soil.
Throughout the whole cause of the investigation 44 monkeys were identified as eating soil on 46 occasions. In three cases, they ate the mud immediately after having ingested ice cream, sweets or bread.
It is believed that the mud is reducing the negative effects of an inadequate diet and therefore benefiting the digestive system.
Although it can also expose the animals to pollutants with some soil potentially being contaminated.
It is not only Gibraltar’s monkeys that are consuming mud in this way; in Africa, Asia and South America pregnant monkeys have been seen to eat soil to reduce nausea and get minerals.
In Gibraltar, however, the investigators have not only seen pregnant monkeys consume soil and have also not observed an increase in consumption in relation to pregnant monkeys.
As peak season is soon set to hit Gibraltar, visitors are reminded to not feed the animals or litter any packaging.
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