The police department in Yemassee, South Carolina, has warned locals to keep their windows and doors secure after 43 rhesus monkeys escaped from a nearby research facility.
“On Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at approximately 1 p.m., the Yemassee Police Department received an alert from Alpha Genesis regarding the escape of numerous rhesus monkeys from their enclosures,” police said in a statement on Facebook.
“The public is advised to avoid the area as these animals are described [as] skittish and any additional noise or movement could hinder their safe capture,” it added, advising residents not to approach the macaques and instead call 911 to report any sightings, and ensure all doors and windows were securely closed.
Alpha Genesis – the company responsible for the Yemassee facility – describes itself as a specialist in non-human primate breeding and contract research, carrying out projects on crab-eating macaques and capuchin monkeys, as well as rhesus monkeys.
Police say the escaped rhesus monkeys are young females who have not been used for testing, with an Alpha Genesis spokesperson confirming they are “too young to carry diseases”.
“We want to assure the community that there are no health risks associated with these animals,” police said in another statement.
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told CBS News that the escape was the result of a facility caretaker’s failure to secure one of the enclosure’s doors.
“It’s really a follow-the-leader kind of thing. You see one person go and the others go,” Westergaard said. “It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 fled out the door.”
Both local police and Alpha Genesis are now working to capture the refugees, using thermal imaging cameras to locate the monkeys, and traps using food as a lure.
As of November 7, the monkeys have not yet been captured.
This isn’t the first time apes have escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility. The company was previously fined $12,600 for six incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2016, according to the Post and Courier.
In one such incident in December 2014, 26 monkeys escaped; As with the current incident, this was because their accommodation was not properly secured. In a separate episode set in the same month, a monkey escaped while being taken to a medical clinic – it was never found.