43 escaped research monkeys still on the loose in South Carolina after caretaker failed to close two doors

Police are still searching for 43 monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina research facility Wednesday, as the company’s manager revealed that the outbreak occurred when an employee failed to properly secure a door.

Police in Yemassee, Beaufort County, confirmed Thursday night that the primates were in the wooded region surrounding the Alpha Genesis facility in a rural area on the outskirts of Yamassee.

Local residents were encouraged to lock windows and doors and not to interact with the monkeys and instead call 911 immediately after spotting any of the escaped primates. “These animals are very sensitive and easily startled, we recommend that the public avoid the area to avoid scaring them further,” police said.

“Alpha Genesis staff are currently attempting to lure the animals back using food to ensure they are captured safely,” the police statement read.

The company hopes that one-way traps with apples will lure the animals.

Police also said Thursday that the monkeys were very young females weighing only 6 to 7 lbs. The company told police the animals were too young to carry disease, although it is unclear whether that means they are unable to contract disease or simply had not been introduced into any clinical trials.

Greg Westergaard, executive director of Alpha Genesis, told NBC News via email: “The incident yesterday involved a new enclosure and occurred because the caretaker, who was doing routine cleaning and feeding, failed to secure two separate doors. It was a clean human error.”

This is not the first time monkeys have escaped the facility – a total of 11 managed to break out in 2022, according to US Department of Agriculture documents. Westergaard said they managed to find a nail in chain link fabric, but they did not leave the property and were quickly rounded up.

Alpha Genesis conducts medical research for a variety of clients for several conditions, including brain disorders. The company secured a federal contract for run a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island off the coast of South Carolina, also known as Monkey Island.

Meanwhile, animal rights activists have raised concerns about the ethics of using primates in medical research on such a scale.

Kathleen Conlee, VP of animal research issues for the Humane Society of the United States, a Washington-based nonprofit, previously worked at the Beaufort County facility when it was owned by another company and called for an end to monkey testing.

“These intelligent, social animals deserve protection, not exploitation. Congress must reject further investment in primate research infrastructure and instead focus on funding ethical, non-animal alternatives that are more effective, humane and cost taxpayers less money,” she said in a declaration. .

Lisa Jones-Engel, a primate researcher with the animal rights pressure group PETA, said in a statement: “The monkey research industry has consistently failed to improve human health and instead their actions continue to put the public at risk.”