Did you know that despite being the only macaques in Africa, Barbary macaques are far from being the only members of the genus Macaca in the world? To celebrate macaque diversity and bring much-needed attention to an often forgotten group of monkeys, we decided to initiate International Macaque Day, with the inaugural celebration taking place on 16th March 2016.

To find out more, check out the International Macaque Day website, Facebook page and Twitter feed, and keep up with all the news on this exciting event.

We are very pleased that our status as a UK small charity has enabled us to open a bank account with Barclays bank. This means that supporters can now set up donations via standing order, if they prefer, rather than needing to use PayPal or cheque.

Regular donations enable us to keep our field operations funded throughout the year and free up our time to apply for grants for expansion of our research - all this contributes hugely to Barbary macaque conservation, and you could be a part of it.

If you would like to make a regular contribution to our work, please contact us at bmacaque@gmail.com for our account details. Thank you.

In January, BMAC staff were invited to Rabat Zoo to attend a roundtable on the illegal wildlife trade. Ahmed was able to go along to talk about our work to combat the illegal trade in Barbary macaques, as well as our contribution to the confiscations of other species such as vultures.

In conjunction with our ongoing Just Say No campaign, we are pleased to be working so closely with Moroccan authorities, the Moroccan public, and many other people around the world, to bring an end to a trade that is cruel to animals and damaging to species conservation.