More than 40 monkeys on the loose in US town after escaping lab
Al Jazeera
Police describe escapees, who are not carrying disease, as ‘harmless and a little skittish’, posing ‘almost no danger to public’.
More than 40 monkeys escaped from a research lab in a small town in the United States after an employee failed to properly shut an enclosure.
The 43 rhesus macaque monkeys fled from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, on Wednesday, according to a police statement issued the following day.
Police said the monkeys were all females weighing about 3kgs (6.6 pounds), too small and young to be used for testing.
“They are not infected with any disease whatsoever. They are harmless and a little skittish,” said Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander on Thursday, emphasising that they posed “almost no danger to the public”.
Alpha Genesis set up traps and was using thermal imaging cameras to recapture the monkeys on the run. “The handlers know them well and usually can get them back with fruit or a little treat,” said Alexander.
