A police search is underway after 43 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday night.
Police in Yemassee, Beaufort County, said the animals escaped from Alpha Genesis, a business that provides "nonhuman primate products and bio-research services," according to its website.
The monkeys were a group of "very young females" that have never been used for testing. An Alpha Genesis spokesperson confirmed to police that the animals "are too young to carry disease," according to police statement.
"Alpha Genesis currently have eyes on the primates and are working to entice them with food," police said Thursday afternoon.
Traps have been set up and officers are using thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to recapture the animals, police said.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” Yemassee Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it but instead call 911, it said.
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The company works with monkeys to carry out clinical trials, including on brain disease disorder treatments, and says it has "one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States."
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The sheriff's department didn't specify the breed of the fugitive primates, but the company's website says it works with macaque and capuchin monkeys.
It is also not known what trials the escaped monkeys were taking part in, nor whether they were exposed to any diseases. Alpha Genesis did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.
The company secured a federal contract to run a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island off the coast of South Carolina, also known as Monkey Island.
The Post and Courier newspaper in Beaufort County reported that primate escapes have happened several times before in the area, including in May this year, and in 2016 when 19 evaded security at Alpha Genesis before they were recaptured six hours later.
In 2022, three monkeys escaped following a traffic accident in rural Pennsylvania.
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