Mugger monkey! Moment fearless macaque jumps up and snatches woman’s bag from her hand in Gibraltar

  • After noticing the standoff, Mark Carroll recorded the event on the Rock of Gibraltar.
  • After several attempts, the monkey eventually grabs the bag and begins to rummage through it.
  • As it hunts for food, the Barbary macaque disperses all of its bag contents.
  • The animal eventually admits defeat, and tosses the rest of the bag înapoi 










The moment that a monkey approached a woman to steal her purse is captured on video.

After spotting Mark Carroll and a Barbary macaque in an argument, he filmed this clip from the cable cars at the Rock of Gibraltar.

Carroll captured the moment when the monkey leapt up and grabbed the bag, where he began to search 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

This incident was filmed at the Rock of Gibraltar. The monkey jumps up to steal the backpack from a tourist and then opens it and begins to search for 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

After ripping the bag, the monkey throws the items on the ground. The monkey is seen throwing the empty bag back at the tourist towards the end.

On November 4, the incident was filmed. The female tourist is seen standing on top of a roof, holding her bag in one hand, while the monkey stands beside her.

The animal attempts to seize the bag, and she turns around while the man stands by helplessly.

After spinning for a while, the woman tries to face away. The monkey grabs the bag and rips it from her hand.

The Barbary macaque drops the bag on the ground and starts to look through it for food.

The bag is opened and the contents are spread on the ground. While the man and woman watch, the bag is ripped open.

The monkey grabs the bag from another male, which appears to be staff, and then jumps onto a wall dropping more items.

The monkey is left with a paper bag and proceeds to move on.

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

The video shows the monkey leaping at the woman, grabbing her bag from her right hand and then tearing it out.

Mr Carroll explained that the monkey approached the woman after it had seen her bag. It then leapt to take it, before taking a close 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 stunned as we just got off the cable cars.”

Originating in the Atlas Mountains and Rif Mountains of Morocco the Barbary Macaque population is Gibraltar’s only wild monkey community.

Around 230 Barbary macaques live on Gibraltar Rock.

The cheeky monkeys have not been the only ones to catch tourists in Gibraltar.

Lee Ann and her fiancé Gabriel (pictured) had travelled to Gibraltar to get married on August 22

A macaque monkey took a particular interest in Gabriel's backpack

Lee Ann and her fiancé Gabriel (pictured) had travelled to Gibraltar to get married on August 22. Before their wedding, they took a visit to Upper Rock. Gabriel was also a fan of the backpack of a macaque monkey.

Lee Ann and her fiancé Gabriel travelled to the British overseas territory to tie the knot in the Botanical Gardens in 2020.

Both families made a visit to the Upper Rock before they planned their dream wedding. A macaque monkey climbed up Gabriel’s shoulder, unzipped Gabriel’s backpack and pulled out Gabriel’s birth certificate. This passport, along with his birth certificate could have been fatal.

Gabriel, a monkey accomplice, is stopped from taking his documents. 

Dr Fui Mee Quek, Lee Ann’s mother said Gabriel wasn’t the only victim and Lee Ann was also targeted.

Gabriel was able to save his passport and birth certificate, and married Lee Ann just a few hours later. 

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