South Carolina Facility Recovers 39 Monkeys, 4 Still Missing

Four rhesus macaques remain on the loose nearly two weeks after 43 monkeys escaped from a South Carolina compound that breeds primates for medical research, officials confirmed Monday.
The escape, which occurred on Nov. 6, happened when an employee at Alpha Genesis, a facility in Yemassee, failed to fully secure an enclosure, allowing the monkeys to flee, said the company’s CEO.
While 39 have been safely recaptured, the remaining four are believed to be near the facility’s property.
“Efforts to locate and recover the remaining monkeys are ongoing,” Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said in a statement shared by police on social media.
Two monkeys recovered Monday were reportedly in good health, and the company says the others are likely together and in a wooded area nearby.
Traps and thermal imaging have been used in the two-week long hunt for the monkeys.
The incident occurred when a worker neglected protocol, leaving all three gates and latches in the containment area unsecured, Westergaard told WCSC-TV. The breach was likely unintentional.
The Yemassee facility, about 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, specializes in breeding rhesus macaques for sale to medical facilities and researchers.
According to its website, Alpha Genesis provides the “highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services” across North America, Europe and Asia, and has “one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States.”
The company’s clinical trials reportedly include research on progressive brain disorders.
The monkeys, each weighing around seven pounds, are all female and comparable in size to house cats.
Rhesus macaques have long been used in scientific research due to their genetic similarity to humans, sharing about 93 percent of our DNA.
While federal health officials and police have assured the public that the escaped monkeys pose no health risk, residents are advised to avoid approaching them.
Alpha Genesis has urged the public not to fly drones near the facility, as the monkeys are skittish and may flee if startled.
The company has come under the scrutiny of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service after several monkeys died in its care.
A USDA report said the facility had “enclosures lacking appropriate structural strength and design,” which provided “opportunities for escape, entrapment, or unintended interactions with other animals, potentially resulting in injury or death to the animals.”
It found that staff members had incorrectly placed primates in non-socialized groups, resulting in one being killed by other monkeys, and that one infant became entangled in mesh designed to hold a water bottle. The animal did not survive.
Newsweek reached out to Alpha Genesis for comment via email.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press