More than 40 monkeys have escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday, prompting warnings for nearby residents to secure their doors and windows. The runaway monkeys had not been captured as of Friday morning.

Here’s what we know so far:

Where did the monkeys escape in South Carolina?

The primates broke free from Alpha Genesis in Yemassee, Beaufort County, South Carolina.

The company confirmed that 43 rhesus macaque primates escaped from an enclosure at one of the company’s facilities.

The Yemassee Police Department said Thursday that bait traps were set up and thermal imaging cameras were used to capture the monkeys.

“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” police said. said. “If you see any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and stay away from them.”

How did the monkeys escape from the research facility?

Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, told CBS News on Thursday that a keeper accidentally failed to secure a door to the enclosure, allowing the monkeys to roam free.

“It’s really like following the leader. You see one go and the others go,” he said. “There was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door.”

He told CBS News on Friday that while they haven’t captured any of the monkeys, they are staying close to the facility.

“They’re just crazy monkeys jumping back and forth playing with each other,” he said. “It’s kind of like a playground situation here.”

Westergaard said the company has set up baited traps, but the monkeys aren’t getting into them yet.

“They jump down and get the food and then jump back over the fence and into the tree line,” he added. “They watch us as we watch them.”

He admitted that it would be a long process to get them back and that they didn’t want to chase the monkeys because that would scare them and make them run away.

“We have them very close,” Westergaard said. “Everything is like what we want to see.”

What kind of monkeys are they?

The monkeys that escaped are rhesus macaque primates, which have brown fur with red faces and ears. They have close-cropped hair on their heads, which accentuates their very expressive faces.

Rhesus macaques are Asian Old World monkeys found mainly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia and China.

Rhesus macaques were imported to the US in the 1970s for biomedical research in laboratories, according to New England Primate Conservancy.

Rhesus macaques are “bold, extremely curious and adventurous monkeys” and the species is “highly adaptable to co-exist with humans”, the conservancy says.

The typical diet of the rhesus macaque includes roots, fruits, seeds and bark, as well as insects and small animals.

What did the monkeys use to test?

According to its website, Alpha Gensis breeds monkeys and provides “non-human primate products and biological research services” around the globe. The company’s clinical trials they are supposed to include research on progressive brain disorders.

Local authorities said Thursday that the escaped primates were “very young females weighing around 6-7 lbs” and had never been used for testing due to their age.

Alpha Genesis says its staff of veterinary technicians and animal specialists work with cynomolgus, rhesus and capuchin monkeys.

The Post and courier The newspaper reported last year that Alpha Genesis had won a federal contract to oversee a colony of 3,500 rhesus monkeys on South Carolina’s Morgan Island, known as “Monkey Island.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in a statement that the monkeys previously lived on Morgan Island as “free-ranging monkeys” and were brought to the Alpha Genesis facility “to be conditioned around humans.”

The facility is registered with the CDC as an importer of nonhuman primates, which means it “must meet standards for the importation, quarantine and use of NHPs,” the agency said.

The CDC added that “the risk to the public is low as long as people do not approach or come into contact” with the monkeys.

How often do monkeys escape research?

This is not the first time primates have escaped from Alpha Genesis.

Eight years ago, 19 primates escaped from the company’s facility, but were recaptured about six hours later.

Charleston-based CBS affiliate WCSC reported at the time that local officials said escapes were not uncommon, but generally the monkeys return to the compound because they know there is food there.

“Every couple of years, we’ll have one or two come out. We’ve never had so many come out,” Westergaard told CBS News on Friday.

Last year in Pennsylvania, dozens of lab monkeys escaped after a truck carrying 100 of the animals crashed. All primates were later accounted.

The research facility has a history of USDA violations

An inquiry by CBS affiliate WTOC found that in 2022, Alpha Genesis received eight violations from the US Department of Agriculture, including a violation of housing facilities and a veterinary violation.

The report found that in the first eight months of 2022, six monkeys were placed in the wrong enclosures – one animal was found dead from “trauma caused by resident animals in the enclosure” and four animals required further veterinary care.

WTOC also reported that during the same time period, there were six separate occasions when the monkeys escaped from their enclosure. After those escapes, the company repaired the chain link and got rid of some of the cages that were broken, the station reports.

Alpha Genesis was most recently inspected by the USDA in May 2024 and received no violations. The report shows that at the time of the inspection, there were at least 6,701 monkeys on the property, WTOC reported.

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