Forty lab monkeys escape from research facility, prompting public warning: “Don’t take these things home”

Police are searching for 40 monkeys that escaped a research facility in South Carolina and are warning residents to keep their windows and doors closed.

The escapees are being sought by police in Yemassee, South Carolina. Officials said the monkey escaped from a company called Alpha Genesis, which provides “non-human primate products and bioresearch services,” according to its website.

Police and animal rights activists have set up traps in the area where the monkeys are believed to be hiding and are using thermal imaging cameras to spot the primates, NBC News reports.

“Residents are strongly encouraged to secure doors and windows to prevent these animals from entering their homes,” the Yemassee Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Anyone who sees or finds a monkey is asked to call 911, Yemassee police said.

“Just don’t try to take these things home or pet them,” said Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander Post and courier. “We get a lot of it on our social media. This is a crime because they are not yours.”

Alpha Genesis conducts research experiments with monkeys and is proud to be “one of the largest and most comprehensive monkey-specific non-human primate facilities in the United States.” According to the federal government, more than 6,000 monkeys are housed in the facility.

The Sheriff’s Department did not confirm which species of monkey escaped the lab, but Alpha Genesis’ website says it works primarily on capuchins and macaques.

It is unclear whether the monkeys were part of an ongoing clinical trial and, if so, what tests they underwent before their escape.

Alpha Genesis maintains a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island in South Carolina – which has since been called Monkey Island – and breeds monkeys there for research purposes.

This isn’t the first time monkeys have escaped to Beaufort County, South Carolina. the region’s newspaper, the Post and courierreported that there have been several other escape attempts, including an incident in 2016 in which 19 monkeys were on the run for six hours.

In addition to Alpha Genesis Monkey Island in South Carolina, Florida has at least three species of monkeys with breeding populations, none of which are native, including rhesus macaques, which were intended as a tourist attraction in the 1930s. The descendants of these monkeys still roam parts of Florida today.