Police have warned residents of rural South Carolina to lock their doors and windows after at least 43 monkeys escaped from a bio-research laboratory.
The rhesus macaques escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yamasee — which is just off I-95 in the south of the state — on Wednesday night.
The company provides “intensive research and development support to the scientific community,” according to its website.
As of Thursday morning, none of the escaped primates have been recaptured.
“We want to reassure the community that there is no health risk from these animals.” Yamasi Police Department said,
Police and Alpha Genesis personnel have “strategically” placed nets around the area and are using thermal imaging cameras to locate the monkeys.
According to police, local residents have been warned to “secure doors and windows to prevent these animals from entering homes.”
Residents are being asked not to approach the abandoned monkeys and instead call 911 and report sightings.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state Agriculture and Wildlife officials are working with local police “to effectively and humanely manage this incident,” Yamasee police said.
It is unclear how the primates managed to get out.
Alpha Genesis Inc. did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Rhesus macaques are originally from India and China and are known for their high intelligence, According to National Geographic,
Monkeys have a long history in human medicine and scientific research – and they even preceded humans in space.
Yemassee is a small town of about 1,000 people in Beaufort and Hampton counties in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, about 50 miles northwest of Savannah, Ga.
(Tags to translate) US news (T) animals (T) migration (T) monkeys (T) South Carolina
