A group of monkeys being used for medical research escaped from a complex in South Carolina, according to authorities, who called for calm by assuring that the animals “are not infected” or have any disease.
Forty-three monkeys escaped from a complex used for medical research in South Carolina, but the local police chief said there was “almost no risk” to the population.
“They are not infected with any disease. “They're harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday morning.
The rhesus macaques escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility on Wednesday after a new employee did not completely close the enclosure containing the primates, Alexander reported.
The monkeys, females weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms), are so young and small that they have not been used for testing, police said.
Alpha Genesis employees “have already located the primates and are trying to lure them with food,” police said in a statement issued around noon Thursday.
The company often deals with animal escapes within the facility, but this time the monkeys escaped from the complex, located about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee, Alexander said.
“The caregivers know them well and can usually get them to return with fruit or a small gift,” Alexander said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Rounding up these fugitives, however, is taking a little more work. Alpha Genesis has taken the lead, setting up traps and using thermal imaging cameras to recapture the monkeys, he said.
“There is almost no danger to the population,” Alexander stressed.
People who live near the facility must keep doors and windows closed so that the monkeys cannot hide inside, and if they see the primates they must call the emergency number 911 so that company employees and police can capture them.
From its complex, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, Alpha Genesis provides primates for research around the world, according to its website. The company did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Federal authorities fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 in 2018 after dozens of primates escaped, as well as an incident in which other animals were left without water and other problems with the monkeys' habitat.
Officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014 and another 19 escaped in 2016.
The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now sent a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture asking the agency to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha Genesis facility to conduct a thorough investigation and treat them as violators. repeat offenders. The group was involved in the 2018 fine against the company.
“The clear negligence that allowed these 40 monkeys to escape endangered not only the safety of the animals, but also put the residents of South Carolina at risk,” Michael Budkie, the group's executive director, wrote in the letter sent Thursday morning.