Feeding Barbary macaques in the cedar forests around Azrou has become so normalised that it is now being treated as a public safety risk, after a local official warned that handouts are changing the animals’ behaviour and raising the chance of attacks.
In comments to Hespress AR, the official said macaques can forage in the forest and do not need bread or other human food, but that repeated feeding trains them to approach people, demand food, and become more aggressive.
The source added that processed food can harm the animals’ health and urged families and visitors to keep a safe distance and avoid contact.
Visitors stop for close encounters, often using food to pull macaques within arm’s reach for photos. What looks like harmless generosity has a structural effect, shifting the animals’ time and attention away from natural foraging and into a roadside supply chain controlled by humans.
Research on Barbary macaques in Morocco has linked tourist feeding to measurable harms, including indicators of poorer health and higher stress, with conservation references list the species as endangered.
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