Monkey Business: Meet Gibraltar's Cheeky Macaques

Boisterous monkeys were pictured relaxing in the sun, grooming each other, and even climbing through car windows.

Macaques are a common sight in Gibraltar and have no fear of interacting with holidaymakers.

Ian Wade, a 39-year-old freelance photographer, took the photos on a four-day visit in September.

He said:  "The monkeys are like humans when they are young - they like to fool around and get up to all kinds of mischief.

"You can see images of the young macaques play-fighting, which is an important tool in later life and will come in very handy when another troop ventures into their territory.

"Areas which are rich in food sources are important so a macaque will fight for that area.

"For example there are different troops at different parts of the rock.

"The areas like the café are highly sought-after as food can easily be obtained."

Some of the images show the wise-looking monkeys squinting in the sunshine, while others show families of the animals huddled together and showing each other affection.

Ian, from Bristol in the UK, continued: “I really enjoyed taking these photographs.

"It was a challenge but the more time I spent on the rock the more I understood different parts of the monkeys' behaviour - which in turn helped me photograph the many different sides to these monkeys and their complex life.

“The most interesting part of the monkeys' behaviour was when they would steal food.

“Over the years the monkeys have come to understand that tourists bring food, some feed the monkeys and some have food in bags.

“The people who have bags are in trouble."