“Close your doors and windows”: 43 “nervous” monkeys escaped from a laboratory, police sound the alert

This Thursday afternoon, the police of the city of Yemassee (South Carolina, United States) issued a rather surprising alert: “43 monkeys escaped”. “Keep your windows and doors closed”.

Indeed, the town of Yemassee is home to the Alpha Genesis laboratory which “carries out tests on animals, particularly in the context of research into degenerative brain diseases”affirms Le Journal du Québec. And who therefore breeds macaques.

Pitfalls

However, this Thursday, an employee forgot to lock the door to a monkey enclosure. The enclosure housed a group of 50 individuals. 43 of them escaped and are now wandering in the woods around the lab. Or rather 43 of them.

In fact, the group in question is only made up of “very young females weighing between 6 and 7 pounds (3 to 4 kilos)” which have never been used for tests due to their age, write our colleagues at CBS. “There is no health risk with these animals”warns the police again.

However, the authorities advise not to approach them, as these monkeys appear “nervous”.

Alpha Genesis tries to capture the monkeys the gentle way: food traps, and in particular apples of which the forest is devoid.

This is not the first time that monkeys have escaped from this laboratory. Eight years ago, 19 monkeys had already escaped before being recaptured a few hours later.