Monkeys still at large after escape from research facility

Key points
  • Forty-three rhesus monkeys escaped from a testing facility in South Carolina earlier this week.
  • The primates escaped after an employee failed to fully lock the door after feeding and checking on them.
  • One has been recovered, while many of the others are found jumping back and forth over the fence a few feet from the facility.
Only one of 43 monkeys bred for medical research that escaped from a South Carolina facility this week has been found unharmed, officials say.

Many of the others are still within a few feet of the property, jumping back and forth over the facility's fence, police said in a statement.

How did the monkeys get loose?

Officials said the rhesus monkeys took a break on Wednesday (local time) after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee failed to fully lock the door while feeding and checking on them.

“It's really a kind of follow-the-leader. You see one person go and the others go,” Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, said at the time.

On Thursday, Alpha Genesis employees were “monitoring the primates” and “working to entice them with food,” police said.
The company typically handles escapes on site, but the monkeys emerged off-site about 1 mile from downtown Yemassee.

“The handlers know them well and can usually get them back with fruit or a small treat,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander told the Associated Press.

A young monkey is held by an adult monkey in trees.

A young rhesus monkey is held by an adult on South Carolina's Morgan Island in September. The island and its 3,000 monkeys are managed by Alpha Genesis. Source: Getty / The state/TNS

What are the monkeys doing?

On Friday, the monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis complex and cooing at the monkeys inside.

The primates continued to communicate with their companions at the facility on Saturday, which is a positive sign, the police statement said.

A cage full of monkeys and a white truck behind a large barbed wire fence.

Police said the monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis complex and cooing at their companions inside. Source: Getty, Anadolu / Peter Zay

Westergaard said efforts to recover all the animals will continue through the weekend and for as long as necessary.

The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females weighing about 3 kg. Police said they had not been used for testing due to their young age and small size.

Alpha Genesis, U.S. federal health officials and police all said the monkeys pose no risk to public health.

“They are not infected with any disease. They are harmless and a bit shy,” Alexander said shortly after their escape.

However, local residents were advised to close windows and doors so that the monkeys could not find shelter.

Who is the company responsible?

Alpha Genesis supplies primates for research around the world at its facility in Yemassee, about 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.

A security guard holding a radio to his ear.

Alpha Genesis employees had “monitored the primates” and “worked to entice them with food,” police said shortly after their escape. Source: Getty, Anadolu / Peter Zay

The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.

In 2018, federal officials fined Alpha Genesis US$12,600 ($18,900) after dozens of primates escaped, as well as an incident that left some others without water and other problems with the monkeys' housing.

Officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014, and another 19 escaped in 2016.

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