Calling for action this International Macaque Week

1/05/2026

It’s time to celebrate these remarkable and diverse monkeys. But it’s also time for action – macaques are heavily exploited and they need your help.

A barbary macaque sitting on the pavement with a chain around its neck

Each year, the first week of May marks International Macaque Week, when we promote awareness for one of the world’s most persecuted and exploited groups of primates, including in the city of Marrakesh, Morocco. But today, you can help bring the suffering to an end.

Born Free is using this special week to further highlight the plight of the captive Barbary macaques who are touted as photographic props in the Jemaa el-Fna square, the site of a world-famous, bustling marketplace in Marrakesh, and to launch our updated supporter action.

Born Free has received hundreds of Red Flag reports about the mistreatment of Barbary macaques and other captive wild animals who are exploited for money as props for tourist photographs, and we have visited Marrakesh several times to investigate. Ian Redmond, Born Free’s Policy Advisor, visited in 2025, and he found that the situation sadly hasn’t changed.

Macaques still have chains around their necks and are dragged from visitor to visitor. Many are dressed up in clothes, including dresses, football shirts, or nappies, and are exposed to crowds of people and loud noises with nowhere to hide. They are manhandled, sometimes hit, and crammed into dark travelling crates.

Watch our video

Take Action

Coordinated by the Asia for Animals Macaque Coalition, of which Born Free is a member, the theme for International Macaque Week 2026 is Respect Their Nature, a reminder to the world that macaques are sentient, social beings who deserve dignity and protection.

Barbary macaques are native to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and Algeria. Sadly, they are classified as ‘Endangered’ in the wild. In 2016, in recognition of the increasing threat of extinction, they were given greater protection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Thankfully, improved domestic legislation and enforcement efforts have largely curbed the capture of Barbary macaques for the international pet trade, but, shockingly, the exploitation of captive macaques in Jemaa el-Fna has been allowed to continue on the grounds that some see it as ‘traditional’.

Born Free feels strongly that tradition should never be used as an excuse for animal suffering and we have consistently and repeatedly called on the Moroccan environmental and tourism authorities, along with the Mayor of Marrakesh, to bring these horrific and outdated activities to an end.

READ THE 2025 REPORT READ THE 2019 REPORT

How you can help

Write to the mayor of Marrakesh

Morocco will soon be under the international spotlight as the co-hosts of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, so now is the time for us to encourage the local authorities to address the animal welfare issues and end the suffering.

By using our template email to write to the Mayor of Marrakesh, you can help by urging the local authorities to step in and end the mistreatment of macaques, and other animals, in Jemaa el-Fna.

Write to the mayor

Report your eyewitness concerns about captive wild animals

If you see a captive wild animal suffering or being exploited anywhere in the world, please submit your eyewitness report, with as much photo and video evidence as you have.

Submit a Red Flag Report

Pledge never to take a Selfish Selfie

Animals being exploited as ‘photo props’, like the Marrakesh macaques, are only being used because they make money. If the demand for photos with captive wild animals ends, the exploitation can end.

Find out more and take the pledge