This is the moment Barbary macaques scramble across towering new climbing trees after their enclosure was fitted with nearly 100 giant timber trunks at a historic zoo.

The footage was filmed at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, and released on 28th May.

Video shows the macaques racing up the freshly installed trunks, leaping between branches and balancing high above the rocky enclosure as they explore the new structures.

Several monkeys are seen sitting at the top of the climbing frames while others swing below and inspect the bark.

Zoo officials said the new climbing area was created using almost 100 untreated black locust tree trunks supplied by the Austrian Federal Forests.

The timber was installed inside the Barbary macaque and Barbary sheep enclosure, which first opened in 2021.

Zoo director Dr Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck said: “For our Barbary macaques, a varied structure in the enclosure with rocks, trees and trunks for climbing is particularly important.

“We are very pleased to have the Austrian Federal Forests as a long-standing partner supporting us not only with branches for food, but also repeatedly with special tree trunks.”

The zoo said it had specifically searched for twisted and uneven trees to make climbing more challenging and natural for the animals.

The trunks were sourced from the Mannersdorf forest district in Lower Austria, east of Vienna.

Austrian Federal Forests board member Andreas Gruber explained that black locust wood was chosen because of its durability and unusual shape.

He said: “The black locust grows quite eccentrically, with strong and widely branched limbs. That gives the monkeys excellent climbing opportunities.”

Zoo staff also left the bark intact on the trunks because it provides a habitat for insects, giving the macaques occasional extra snacks while they climb.

The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) is a uniquely resilient primate, celebrated as the only wild monkey species native to Europe and the only macaque found outside of Asia. The species is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, making dynamic zoo enclosures that stimulate their natural, complex climbing behaviours vital for their physical health and conservation welfare.

Schoenbrunn Zoo, located on the grounds of the former imperial palace in Vienna, is the oldest continuously operating zoo in the world.