Monkeys still at large after escaping research facility

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Key Points

Forty-three Rhesus monkeys escaped a testing facility in South Carolina earlier this week.
The primates escaped after an employee did not fully lock a door after feeding and checking on them.
One has been recovered, with many of the others a few metres from the facility, jumping back and forth over its fence.

Only one of 43 monkeys bred for medical research that escaped a compound in the US state of South Carolina this week has been recovered unharmed, officials say.

Many of the others are still located a few metres from the property, jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence, police said in a statement.

How did the monkeys break free?

Officials said the Rhesus macaques made a break for it on Wednesday (local time) after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee did not fully lock a door as she fed and checked on them.

“It’s really like follow-the-leader. You see one go, and the others go,” Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said at the time.

On Thursday, Alpha Genesis employees had “eyes on the primates” and were “working to entice them with food”, police said.

The company usually handles escapes on site, but the monkeys got outside the compound about 1.6km from downtown Yemassee.

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

An infant monkey being held by an adult monkey in trees.

An infant rhesus macaque is held by an adult on Morgan Island in South Carolina 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 compound and were cooing at the monkeys inside.

The primates continued to interact with their companions inside 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 compound and were cooing at their companions inside. Source: Getty, Anadolu / Peter Zay

Westergaard said efforts to recover all the animals will persist throughout the weekend and for as long as it takes.

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

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

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

Nevertheless, people living nearby were advised to shut their windows and doors so the monkeys could not find a place to hide inside.

Who is the company responsible?

Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its compound in Yemassee, about 80km northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.

A security guard holding a radio up to his ear.

Alpha Genesis employees had “eyes on the primates” and were “working 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 for an incident that left a few others without water and other problems with how the monkeys were housed.

Officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014, and an additional 19 got out in 2016.

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