Around forty monkeys on the run after escaping from a laboratory

They weigh barely 3 kg and are described as particularly timid. However, these female rhesus macaques have been actively sought by the American authorities since their escape on Thursday afternoon. The forty monkeys escaped from a research laboratory run by Alpha Genesis, in the town of Yemassee in South Carolina, in the United States. “Please do not attempt to approach these animals under any circumstances,” police warned.

The monkeys left the laboratory specializing in biomedical research on primates where they were locked up. According to the lab boss, an employee forgot to lock the door to their enclosure, allowing the animals to sneak out. Search teams were deployed to find these rhesus macaques, in particular by “attracting them with food”. Yemassee police are urging residents to keep their doors and windows “securely closed” and to call them if they see any of the monkeys.

These young females would not have been used for testing and would be too young to carry diseases. Company boss Greg Westergaard told CBS News that the escape was “frustrating” and that he hoped for “a happy ending” with the primates returning on their own.