Residents of Beaufort County, South Carolina received a very unusual warning from the Yemassee Police Department this week: watch out for the escaped monkeys.
That’s right. 43 monkeys are on the loose after busting out of a Alpha Genesis research facility in the area.
“We can confirm that 43 Rhesus macaque primates escaped the Alpha Genesis facility on Castle Hall Road. At this point, none have been captured,” the Yemassee Police Department posted on Facebook on Thursday.
“We want to assure the community that there is no health risk associated with these animals.”
Yemassee Town Administrator Matt Garnes told the Hampton County Guardian that the monkeys escaped at around 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The Yemassee Police Department also assured area residents that “traps have been strategically set up around the area to capture the escaped animals safely” and that they are “using thermal imaging cameras to aid in locating the primates.”
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows securely closed to prevent the primates from entering homes,” the Yemassee Police Department warned.
“If you spot any escaped animals, do not approach them and call 911 immediately.”
According to its website, Alpha Genesis breeds monkeys and provides “nonhuman primate products and bio-research services.”
This isn’t the first time that monkeys have escaped from Alpha Genesis.
“It has happened before,” said Garnes. “The escapes are few and far between, but they have happened. They’ve gotten out and they were later recaptured and okay.”
In 2014, 26 monkeys escaped and the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 for that infraction along with five other incidents. Also, in 2002, the Department of Natural Resources reported that at least seven other monkeys escaped between 1980 and 1996.
Alpha Genesis, one of the world’s largest breeders of monkeys for research and medical testing, houses approximately 5,000 monkeys. THe company is also in charge of Morgan Island in the ACE Basin of South Carolina.
Locals call it “Monkey Island” due to the about 3,500 rhesus monkeys that live on the approximately 400 acres of land owned by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
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43 Monkeys Escape Lab, South Carolina Residents Warned To Lock Windows And Doors
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