Gibraltar Monkeys Eating Soil to Combat Junk Food Diets
Researchers observed monkeys in Gibraltar adopting a unique coping mechanism: eating soil. This behavior is believed to help the macaques avoid stomach upset from consuming excessive human junk food.
On the tourist-packed Rock of Gibraltar, one of the most common sights is monkeys begging for food – and sometimes stealing sweet and salty snacks from unsuspecting visitors. Scientists now have documented an unusual behaviour among these macaques that may help them ward off a bellyache from all this junk food. Researchers said the monkeys have been observed eating soil more frequently, a behaviour they said may help the macaques avoid stomach upset from consuming human snacks. They found that...