43 monkeys escape US research facility; residents asked to lock doors, windows – National

On November 9, 2024By Littum

Authorities have warned South Carolina residents to lock their doors and close their windows after more than 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility and are on the loose as police try to round them up.

The Yemassee Police Department confirmed in a Facebook post Thursday that 43 rhesus macaques escaped Alpha Genesis facility in Beaufort County the previous day.

The primates, all “very young” females weighing about six or seven pounds, have never been used for testing, and police said they confirmed with Alpha Genesis that the animals are too young to bear disease.

“Alpha Genesis currently has its eyes on the primates and is working to lure them with food,” police said Thursday afternoon, adding that they are supplementing their search efforts with traps and thermal imaging.

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“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering their homes,” police wrote. Anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it, but instead call 911, it said, warning that the monkeys can be “sketchy, and any additional noise or movement may hinder their safe capture.”

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By Thursday afternoon, none of the animals had been caught.

According to ABC News, Yemassee Town Administrator Matthew Garnes confirmed that the fugitive monkeys escaped when a new employee at the Alpha Genesis center left the door to their enclosure open.

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Garnes told city officials that police do not expect the animals to have traveled very far.

In an interview with CBS News Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard called the run “frustrating”.

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“It’s really like following the leader. You see one go and the others go,” Westergaard said. “It was a group of 50 and 7 that stayed and 43 jumped out the door.”

He added that he hopes the monkeys decide to return on their own.

According to its website, Alpha Genesis breeds monkeys and primates and provides “non-human primate products and bio-research services,” including plasma, serum, tissue samples and whole blood.

The local Post and Courier newspaper reported that monkeys have disappeared from the facility before – eight years ago, 19 primates made a break for itbut all were recaptured within six hours.

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