The Saga of South Carolina’s Escaped Lab Monkeys Is not Over But

Native authorities say a “sizable group” of escaped primates continues to be lively exterior a South Carolina facility linked to “brain disorder research.” The incident might sound like dystopian sci-fi fodder, however the lab monkeys apparently pose no public well being threat, facility administration informed police.

But, the Yemassee, South Carolina Police Division is urging the general public to keep away from the close by space the place dozens of younger rhesus macaques just lately fled. Of the 43 runaways initially disclosed by the Alpha Genesis Primate Analysis Middle—referred to as the “monkey farm” to locals—18 stay on the free close to the South Carolina coast, a Sunday-night replace shared on the division’s Facebook page mentioned. The division cautioned residents to secure their doors and windows to forestall the primates from entering into their properties.

The escaped macaques are reportedly all feminine, weigh roughly six kilos, and have been too younger to have been utilized in any analysis. They’ve been on the free since round 1 p.m. ET on November 6, and a “sizable group stays lively alongside the fence line and at the moment have bedded down within the bushes for the evening,” per the Fb replace.

As for a way the primates escaped within the first place, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard blamed it on “purely human error” in a press release to NBC final week. “The incident yesterday concerned a brand new enclosure, and occurred as a result of the caretaker who was doing routine cleansing and feeding didn’t safe two separate doorways,” he mentioned.

Together with discouraging the general public from interacting with the primates in any method, police urged residents to “AVOID FLYING DRONES” close by after one apparently spooked the monkeys final week, complicating seize efforts. The primates which were captured up to now are in “good well being,” the police claimed.

“She is effectively and having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” mentioned Westergaard of one of many captured macaques in one other assertion.

“This isn’t the primary time this particular plant has had this challenge,” one commenter identified on the native police division’s Fb web page. “Preserve operating little fellows,” one other replied.

Alpha Genesis, which claims to offer “solely one of the best and most cost-effective primate analysis,” has seen quite a few escapes over the previous decade and confronted hundreds of {dollars} in related fines from the Department of Agriculture, in response to native paper the Post and Courier.

Close by, Alpha Genesis manages a federally funded analysis facility on Morgan Island, which locals have dubbed Monkey Island. The positioning is house to hundreds of primates and faces ongoing scrutiny from animal rights advocates in addition to South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace.

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be pressured to spend $20 billion per 12 months on wasteful and merciless experiments involving canines, cats, monkeys, and different animals,” Mace wrote on X in January.