Woman says she will ‘never recover’ after monkey attack on Skywalk

What was meant to be the highlight of a long-awaited Gibraltar holiday turned into a scene of terror that Susan and Raymond Southam say they will never forget.

A peaceful morning on the Rock became a traumatic emergency when a troop of Barbary macaques launched a sudden and brutal attack on 70-year-old Susan, leaving her seriously injured and mentally scarred for life.

Three months on, she continues to suffer daily pain, nerve sensitivity, significant scarring, panic attacks, nightmares and lasting psychological trauma.

“Physically, she is a lot better, badly scarred with pain, but mentally she will never recover,” her 73-year old husband told the Chronicle.

They hope that by speaking out, steps will be taken to prevent another tourist from experiencing what they describe as a “horrendous and unprovoked” attack.

The couple, from Birmingham in the UK, were initially looking forward to their Gibraltar visit but now look back in regret.

Initially they planned to arrive in Gibraltar on October 29 and leave on November 2.

Their arrival went to plan and they bought tickets to take the cable car to the top of the Rock on October 31.

Arriving at the top of the rock, they went to the restaurant for a coffee before taking in the views and make their way to the feeding area near Prince Philip’s Arch.

“The very narrow road was full of taxis and tourists who had saved money by not using the cable car to get to the top of the Rock,” Mrs Southam told the Chronicle.

“Taxis were in a long queue, and people were continually getting in and out; taxi drivers were hand-feeding the apes and taking photographs with apes on tourists' shoulders.”

“One young ape climbed into a taxi, and the ape's mother put her arm in the taxi to pull the baby out. There were lots of apes and people, but everything seemed calm and relaxed.”

The couple then proceeded to the Skywalk.

When they got there, they noted there were no security guards and the steps at one end were blocked off by a family of macaques sitting on them.

“Three men were being entertained by the antics of a young ape at the entrance to the skywalk. My husband took a few photographs of the views and left the skywalk,” she recalled.

“I stayed on the skywalk for a few minutes longer.”

It was then that the horrific experience started to unfold.

“The three men were teasing the young ape; the young ape bit one of them, and it let out a cry. At that point, a troop including several large adult apes jumped onto the Skywalk.”

“One jumped on my back, holding onto my hair, and another grabbed my arm tearing two large chunks of flesh out of it.”

“I screamed and moved towards my husband.”

“The apes jumped off and backed away.”

“I was in total shock, blood was pouring from the arm onto my clothes and shoes.”

“I looked at my arm in terror, two large chunks of flesh had been removed, showing blood vessels, muscle and fat.”

She recalled that the three men were nowhere to be seen and assumed they must have run off during the attack.

Someone asked her if she had been bitten and when they saw the extent of the injuries, several tourists organised help.

“One ran to the cable car to empty it and hold it for my descent, while another one phoned for the ambulance, and then we obtained a shirt to cover the wounds and contain the bleeding,” she said.

“The route to the cable car was blocked by taxis and apes. A taxi driver was moving apes away from the route. At that point, I was terrified of all apes.”

“Following this horrendous and unprovoked attack, I was rushed to St. Bernard's Hospital.”

“The medic told my husband that people get bitten daily, many requiring a couple of stitches, but she had never seen anything as bad as this.”

Mrs Southam spent the next four days in hospital under specialist care.
She received stitches, had her wound dressed and was given a tetanus shot as well as intravenous antibiotics and pain killers.

She left the hospital on November 4, with enough tablet antibiotics, pain killers, antibacterial pads, dressings and bandages to last until the couple returned to the UK.

“I became the centre of attention in the hospital with nurses and doctors coming to see the photographs of the wounds,” she said.

“They had not experienced such a ferocious attack within the hospital.”

“I explained that as a mature woman, I always obey the rules and had not caused the attack.”

Now, over three months later, she is in pain every day, with muscle, nerve and skin sensitivity and has considerable scarring.

“It has taken the wounds three months to surface heal. Mentally, I will never heal,” she said.

“I am sensitive to loud noise and get panic attacks and live the event with nightmares regularly.”

“This is an experience I will never recover from.”

She reported the incident to the Royal Gibraltar Police and to No.6 Convent Place and said she is disappointed with the lack of empathy and reply.

“The sad thing is that the Gibraltar Government and police do not give a damn, they were indifferent,” she said.

“The police state it's not a police problem, and the Government has been ignoring my husband's emails since December, and he went to the highest level in the Gibraltar Government.”

A reply from the RGP to the couple said: “The rock apes are wild and feral animals and are unpredictable. They roam Gibraltar freely sometimes even coming down into the town and have also even been found within people’s homes.”

“The rock apes are not controlled in any way by anyone, are untamed and are only managed which from my understanding involves taking care of their wellbeing, their general condition and feeding them. You enter the nature reserve at your own risk.”

“We of course have a duty of care to the public but unfortunately, with regards to this matter, this is not a criminal matter.”

Having received a reply from the Chief Minister’s ‘On Location Team’, who gave their apologies for the incident, the couple were told it would be escalated to the Ministry for Environment, which is responsible for the Upper Rock and the macaques.

On December 3, a representative from that Ministry told them: “We too would like to echo our deepest apologies for the negative experience you had whilst in Gibraltar.”

“We will review your email and send you a full response to your points shortly.”

The couple have not heard anything since.

“For a government that is dependent on tourism, it paid zero interest,” Mrs Southam said.

“The attitude is that if we ignore it, it will go away.”

She believes it is not safe to come to Gibraltar as a result and is grateful she did not take their granddaughter with them.

“She would probably not survived the injuries or would have lost a limb,” she said.

She is left with a number of questions.

“I ask are about the total lack of supervision. No official came to our aid and there is no sign of any management.”

“Why was there no medical help or first aid?”

“Young children should not be allowed anywhere near [macaques], and it needs to be enforced.”

“If this attack had happened to a child, they would have lost a limb or worse. “

“Why are taxi drivers allowed to drive a vehicle into [the macaque feeding area], block the narrow road and force tourists dangerously closer to the apes?”

“Why are taxi drivers feeding the apes, and what are they feeding them to make them handleable for photographs?”

“Why is the Skywalk not supervised? There was a whole family of apes on the far stairs, and it’s a tight area”

Mrs Southam said she understood the attraction of Gibraltar’s Barbary macaques in attracting visitors.

But she believes more needs to be done to ensure visits to see the macaques are “supervised and safe”.

A spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place told the Chronicle: “The Department of the Environment was very sorry to hear of the unfortunate incident that took place, which is being reviewed.”

“The Macaque Management Team is continuously monitoring the different troops to avoid any similar incidents occurring.”

“The Department would like take this opportunity to remind visitors that the macaques are wild and free ranging animals.”

“Any and all interactions with them are illegal.”

Although often referred to as apes, Barbary macaques are in fact tailless monkeys.