Authorities have warned residents in South Carolina not to close their doors and windows, after more than 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility and fled while police tried to arrest them.
The Yemassee Police Department confirmed in A Share Facebook On Thursday, 43 rhesus macaques escaped Alpha Genesis facility in Beaufort County the day before.
The primates, all “very small” females weighing about six or seven pounds, were not used in the testing, and police said they confirmed with Alpha Genesis that the animals were present. Too young to carry the disease.
“Alpha Genesis is currently monitoring the primates and working to lure them with food,” police said Thursday afternoon, adding that they are supplementing search efforts with traps and thermal imaging.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secure to prevent these animals from entering homes,” police wrote. She said anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it and should instead call 911, warning that monkeys can be “stressed and any additional noise or movement could hinder safe capture.”
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As of Thursday afternoon, none of the animals had been captured.
According to ABC News, Yemassee City Manager Matthew Garnes confirmed that the escaped monkeys escaped when a new employee at the Alpha Genesis Center escaped. They left their tent door open.
Garnes told town officials that police did not expect the animals to have traveled long distances.
In an interview with CBS News Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Vestergaard He described the escape as “frustrating.”
“It’s really like following the leader. You see one go and the others go,” Vestergaard said. “It was a group of 50 and 7 people stayed back and 43 walked out the door.”
He added that he hoped the monkeys would decide to return on their own.
Alpha Genesis, according to its website, breeds monkeys and primates and provides “nonhuman primate products and bioresearch services,” including plasma, serum, tissue samples and whole blood.
The local Post and Courier newspaper reported that monkeys had disappeared from the facility before – eight years ago. 19 monkeys made a break for herBut they were all arrested within six hours.
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
