COLUMBIA — Residents in a small South Carolina town are finding themselves in the middle of a real-life game of Jumanji after 43 monkeys escaped Wednesday from a research facility.
The rhesus macaque primates are all still on the loose as of Thursday evening after escaping from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee. They are believed to be in the wooded region surrounding the facility, the Yemassee Police Department said in an update around 6 p.m.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the police department said in a Facebook post Wednesday night.
In an update shortly before noon, police said Alpha Genesis had eyes on the monkeys and were attempting to entice them with food.
Police advised those who encounter the missing monkeys to refrain from interacting with them and immediately call 911. The young primates – all female and between 6 to 7 pounds – have never been used for testing and are too young to carry disease, police said.
“They are described as being very skittish and will congregate in groups,” Garnes said. The monkeys are nonviolent, but may be growing restless due to hunger, he said.
Traps to catch the animals on the run have been set and the police department was using thermal imaging cameras to find them. Police were working closely with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state agricultural and wildlife officials.
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told Kuwait Weekly the primates escaped after a caretaker failed to secure doors, saying it was “100% human error.”
“We have placed humane traps and have seen monkeys in the woods next to our property. We have people keeping lookout in the area where they have been spotted,” Westergaard said.
The Alpha Genesis test facility specializes in nonhuman primate research for the biomedical research community. It is one of the largest primate facilities in the country designed specifically for monkeys, with over 100 acres of land for research and breeding purposes, according to its website.
Police have instructed people to refrain from approaching the primates, who are “highly sensitive and easily startled.”
“We recommend that the public…avoid the area to prevent frightening them further,” the Yemassee Police Department said.
This is not South Carolina’s first rodeo with monkeys on the loose. The Post and Courier in Beaufort County reported that 19 monkeys escaped from the same facility in 2016, but they were returned after six hours. — Kuwait Weekly