YEMASSEE, SC (WCSC) – Officials at the Alpha Genesis Research Center confirmed that as of Friday morning, the monkeys are still on the loose.

In a statement, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said the monkeys were taking food from staff before running off again. The monkeys sit nearby but only look at the staff.

Westergaard’s statement reads as follows:

“We have our eyes on the fence line where they are. The good news is that they are close. They’re just crazy monkeys jumping back and forth playing with each other. It’s kind of like a playground situation here. We have the bait traps, but they are not going into them yet. We take out their food. We put fruit and vegetables outside and they jump down and get the food and then jump back over the fence and into the tree line. They watch us as we watch them. I haven’t gotten any back yet. I know it’s a long process, but it’s the best way to do it. If you go and try to chase them, they will get scared and run away. We have them very close. All of this is like what we want to see.”

Yemassee Police received a report around 1pm on Wednesday that a group of Rhesus Macaque monkeys escaped from their enclosures at the Alpha Genesis Research Center. The facility, located off Castle Hall Road, is minutes from the small town of Yemassee.

The crews at Alpha Genesis keep trying to catch them with food.

“It’s really just the wait and it’s frustrating because we’d like to have them back sooner or later. You can’t follow them because they scatter. In this form, they should stay in the same area and we should see some coming back,” Westergaard said on Thursday.

The herd consists entirely of young females weighing around 6 or 7 kilograms each. Alpha Genesis reports that none of these animals were used in tests and that they are “too young” to be carriers of the disease.

“It was 100% down to human error. The caretaker who normally looks after these monkeys entered the enclosure and failed to secure two doors behind her,” Westergaard said.

Longtime business owners and neighbors in Yemassee say an escaped monkey isn’t a shocker, and many are used to having the facility nearby.

“That was the surprise, the number. I’ve seen one or two right off the road, but I’ve never heard of so many breaking up,” said Lowcountry living room owner Charlotte Murray.

“Crazy, someone must have left the door open or something, I don’t know. Everybody in Yemassee has been talking about it pretty much all day today,” says Jerry’s Tow and Garage owner Jay Cook. “We know that road as Monkey Farm Road.”

The Alpha Genesis website claims that their research uses “specific pathogen-free” primate models.

The facility has faced violations from the United States Department of Agriculture, including a warning issued in 2022 and a fine in 2017. The 2022 notice alleges the center violated rules regarding the housing, handling and veterinary care of primates.

The 2017 report comes from a document published by the animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now, which reported a $12,600 fine for violating the Animal Welfare Act. Two of these violations included failure to insure primates.

The center also received a citation from the USDA in 2023 because a violation was related to improper care of the enclosures, which could have negative effects on the health of the primates.

An expert on primate experimentation from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement saying the facility’s recent actions “put the public at risk and consistently fail to improve human health.”

“They breed, import, sell and experiment on monkeys. They are generally macaques. Alpha Genesis has approximately 6,000 macaques in their colonies,” said Dr. Lisa Jones-Engel. “They’re scared, they’re hungry, they’re cold, they’re wet. I mean it rained last night. They try to get as far as they can.”

South Carolina Congressional District 1 Representative Nancy Mace released the following statement in a post on X:

We are diligently gathering all relevant information to inform our constituents about the recent primate escape from Alpha Genesis Inc. of Beaufort County. Our office has been in direct communication with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and is working closely with their team to monitor and assess the situation. We are withholding any formal statements until we fully understand all the facts. Stay tuned…

Police and deputies are asking the public to stay away from the area of ​​the Castle Hall Road building as the monkeys are troublesome and any additional noise or movement could prevent them from being recaptured.

Authorities say anyone who spots one of the monkeys should not approach the animal and should call 911 immediately.

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