Police are hunting 43 monkeys who escaped from a research facility in South Carolina after their keepers failed to open their enclosures.
The rhesus monkey escapee, captured from Alpha Genesis, a company that breeds primates for medical testing and research, is on the loose in a region of the state known as the “Low Country.”
Authorities urged residents to keep doors and windows closed and to report any sightings immediately. The escaped monkeys were young females, each weighing about 7 pounds (3.2 kilograms), according to the Yemassee Police Department.
Police said on Thursday the company had located the “restless” group and was “trying to lure them with food”.
“Under no circumstances should you attempt to approach these animals,” police said.
The statement added that traps had been set in the area and police were at the scene “using thermal imaging cameras to try to locate the animals”.
Police said they were told by the research company that the monkeys had not yet been tested due to their large size and were “too young to carry the disease.”
Alpha Genesis chief executive Greg Westergaard said the escape was “disheartening”.
He told BBC America partner CBS News that he “hoped for a happy ending” and that the monkeys would return to the facility on their own.
On Wednesday, a keeper opened the door to the monkeys’ outdoor enclosure, causing the monkeys to escape, Westergaard said. He said they were now “hanging out in the woods.”
“It’s really like following the leader. You see one person go and others go,” Mr. Westergaard said.
“There were 50 people in the group, seven stayed and 43 escaped out the door.”
“There are some little things in the woods to eat, but no apples that they really like,” he said, “so we’re hoping this will attract them in the next day or two.”
Interviewed by a South Carolina newspaper Postal and express deliveryHe added that catching the monkeys had become more difficult due to the weather, saying “the rain caused some hindrance in catching the monkeys as they were squatting on the ground”.
According to The Washington Post and Courier , this isn’t the first time monkeys have escaped from the facility.
In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped and were returned about six hours later. Two years ago, 26 primates escaped from the facility.
The town of Yemassee is located 60 miles (100 kilometers) east of Charleston and has a population of less than 1,100 people.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who represents South Carolina in the House of Representatives, said on Twitter that her office was “working hard to gather all relevant information to inform our constituents about the recent primate escape.”
The macaques are known for being aggressive and competitive, but there is “little danger to the public,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said at a news conference Thursday.
Earlier this year, a Japanese macaque named Honshu Escape from a Scottish zoo.
After more than five days on the run, a drone found him and shot him with a tranquilizer dart before returning him to the zoo.
