TikTok users have been left in fits of giggles over a hilarious video posted online of a tourist being pickpocketed by a cheeky Gibraltarian monkey.
In the 17-second clip, a conniving barbary macaque – the chimp the Rock of Gibraltar is famous for – can be seen leaping on to an unsuspecting man from behind.
The man, dressed all in black with a blue rucksack freezes, unsure of what his next move should be. After all, this monkey has already shown itself to have scant regard for his personal space.
What happens next caused hoards of social media users to wheel out their crying face emojis in the comments section. The monkey, appearing to be searching for something specific, unzips the man’s rucksack and sets about going through the contents.
However, the monkey, despite its obvious cunning, didn’t anticipate that there would be a local ranger on the scene to thwart its crime.
The ranger, decked out in a no-nonsense black uniform and beanie hat, confronts the primate. The monkey initially doesn’t realise what is going on and discards an item from the poor man’s bag.
However, the macaque then realises he’s having to face off with a professional. The ranger, clearly not confronting this sort of behaviour for the first time, advises the victim to sit on his haunches.
Then, in a move presumably designed to intimidate the monkey, the ranger removes his shoe and threatens to use it to strike the thieving macaque. The macaque, displaying all of its athleticism, scampers from the victim’s back to the ground before clambering up into a tree in a matter of moments. The ranger had done his job.
TikTok users couldn’t contain their laughter at the short scene.
One user, Chelsea, said “he was not about that shoe”. While another chimed in saying: “omg he’s so fat”.
While the poster of the video captioned the clip: “this monkey lmao [laughing my a*** off]”.
