Monkey Wars

by Richard Kurti

  Male Barbaries regularly form coalitions with other males, which change frequently, as the male ranking in the hierarchy changes often.

  There is a longstanding myth that holds as long as Barbary apes exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. By 1942, at the height of World War II, their numbers had dwindled to just seven monkeys, but such is the mystique around the Barbaries that the British prime minister, Winston Churchill, personally ordered that their numbers be replenished.

  BONNET MACAQUE

  A clear dominance hierarchy organizes bonnet troops; there is an alpha male, who is the most dominant, followed by a beta and a gamma male. Such acute rank consciousness fed directly into the characterization of Morton and Soames as colonial aristocrats.

  Lip smacking is a very common behavior trait, and they have other, distinctive alarm calls to alert the troop to predators like pythons or leopards.

  Countless thanks to Denise Johnstone-Burt, Daisy Jellicoe and the team at Walker Books for all their support and encouragement, and for the wisdom, experience and hard work they have dedicated to making this story fly.

  Huge thanks to Hilary Delamere, Julia Kreitman and the team at The Agency for the many years of advice and encouragement, all given with such integrity.

  Many thanks to Hugo for being the first reader (never an easy job), to Karen for her patience in living with me while I disappear into other worlds, and to Bev for his forbearance in working with me.

  After studying philosophy and English at King’s College, Cambridge, England, Richard Kurti worked at the BBC as a TV sound recordist. This led to a career as a freelance director and then as a full-time screenwriter. Richard’s film writing includes fourteen commissions for studios in the United States and the UK. His writing for television includes BBC adaptations of Kidnapped and Sherlock Holmes and has earned widespread industry recognition. He lives in Essex.