One of 43 monkeys bred for medical research escaped from South Carolina compound was found unharmed, authorities announced Saturday.
Many others are still within yards of the property, jumping over the establishment’s fence, police said in a statement.
THE Rhesus macaques took a break on Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee failed to fully lock a door while she was feeding and checking on them, officials said.
On Friday, the monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis complex and cooing at the monkeys inside. The primates continued to interact with their companions inside the facility on Saturday, which is a positive sign, according to the police statement.
Yemassee Police Department
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said efforts to recover all animals would continue through the weekend and for as long as necessary, the release said.
Westergaard told CBS News on Thursday that a keeper inadvertently failed to secure a door to the enclosure, allowing the monkeys to move freely.
“It’s really like follow the leader. You see one go and the others go,” he said. “It was a group of 50 people, 7 people stayed there and 43 people fled through the door.”
Westergaard acknowledged it would be a long process to get them back and that they didn’t want to chase the monkeys because it would scare them and cause them to run away.
“We have them very close,” he told CBS News. “This all sounds like what we want to see.”
The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females weighing around 7 pounds.
Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police have all said the monkeys pose no risk to public health. The facility breeds monkeys to sell to medical researchers and others.
Alpha Genesis supplies primates for research worldwide from its Yemassee complex, about 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.
