Animals that live in Morocco: fauna and flora by region

Animals that live in Morocco include the Barbary macaque in the Middle Atlas cedar forests, the fennec fox and desert monitors in the Sahara, and storks and flamingos along the coast. Which ones you meet depends on the region, and the Atlas Mountains are the best place to start.

Morocco packs a lot of geography into a small footprint. Drive a few hours in almost any direction and the ecosystem changes completely: Atlantic coastline gives way to cedar forest, cedar forest gives way to real desert. There isn't one "Moroccan wildlife" story so much as four or five separate ones stitched together.

Around Ifrane and Azrou, in the Middle Atlas cedar forests, you'll likely run into Barbary macaques. They're the only wild monkey species in Africa north of the Sahara, and one of just a handful found anywhere outside Asia and the Americas. They've grown used to people, often wandering right up to cars along the forest roads. Feeding them is tempting but not good for them, whatever the photos suggest.

Further south, the argan forest belt is a different story again. The tree grows almost nowhere else on earth, and UNESCO has recognised the surrounding biosphere reserve for exactly that reason. Goats genuinely do climb into the branches to eat the fruit, that part is real, but the goats you'll see tethered in a tree at a roadside stop are a different thing: set up and held there specifically for photos, in exchange for a small tip, rather than free-range grazing you've stumbled on by chance.

The Sahara itself is quieter than people expect. Fennec foxes, desert monitors, snakes, and rodents are mostly nocturnal, so a night at a desert camp isn't going to feel like a safari. What you're actually more likely to spot are birds: storks nesting on ramparts and minarets, or migratory flamingos further north along the Atlantic lagoons.

Want to see how this works on a real route? Our 6-Day Women's Wellness Tour from Fez and 7-Day Family Morocco Tour from Casablanca to Marrakech are private itineraries we can adjust to fit.