Police are searching for more than 40 monkeys who escaped from a medical research center in Yemassee, South Carolina, on November 6.
Forty-three rhesus monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center on Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement from the Yemassee Police Department.
One of the escaped monkeys was “successfully recovered unharmed” around noon on November 9, police said in an update on Saturday. “A significant number” of the animals are just yards from the research center, “jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence.”
Greg Westergaard, the company’s CEO, told NBC affiliate WSAV-TV in South Carolina that a research center employee left a door open while cleaning the monkey enclosure, allowing the monkeys to escape.
Westergaard, who estimated there were several thousand monkeys at the research center, said he believed the monkeys would return to the facility on their own.
Yemassee police said in the original statement and Saturday’s update that there is no health risk associated with the escaped monkeys.
Police on Saturday advised people not to use drones in the area as it scares the animals and “increases their stress levels.” One drone flying over the area on November 8 “caused a disturbance that frightened the animals, further complicating efforts to facilitate their safe return,” police said in a statement on November 9.
The department has advised residents to keep doors and windows tightly closed to prevent the monkeys from entering homes. Residents who see any of the escaped monkeys are asked not to approach the monkeys on their own and instead call 911 immediately.
Traps have been set up in the area to catch the monkeys and thermal imaging cameras to help locate them, police said.
The department added that it is working with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state agriculture and wildlife officials to humanely locate and return the monkeys.
According to its website, Alpha Genesis specializes in providing non-human primate models to the biomedical research community.
The Beaufort County Post and Courier newspaper describes the center as one of the world’s largest breeders of monkeys for research and medical testing.
The apes’ escape isn’t the first time primates have escaped Alpha Genesis of their own accord. In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped Alpha Genesis for six hours before being captured, the Post and Courier reported.
The publication also reported that Alpha Genesis won a federal contract in 2023 to operate a large colony of monkeys on Morgan Island, also known as Monkey Island, off the coast of South Carolina, to continue breeding monkeys for medical research.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
