4 monkeys remain free nearly 2 weeks after dozens escaped a South Carolina compound

YEMASSEE, S.C. (AP) — Four monkeys remain free nearly two weeks after a group of 43 escaped from a South Carolina compound that breeds them for medical research, authorities said.

Two more rhesus macaques were trapped Monday outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, bringing the total of recovered monkeys to 39, chief executive Greg Westergaard said in a statement relayed by police in a social media post.

The monkeys caught Monday were in good health, and the others continue to thrive, Westergaard said. Efforts to catch the four remaining escaped monkeys were expected to continue Tuesday, he said. Authorities believe they are probably all together in an area next to the company’s property or very close by.

Forty-three monkeys made a break for it Nov. 6 after an employee at what locals call “the monkey farm” did not fully lock their enclosure, police said.

There are three gates keeping the monkeys inside their containment area, and a worker is supposed to lock and latch one gate before opening another, but all three gates and latches were left unsecured, allowing the primates to escape, Westergaard told WCSC-TV last week. It appears unintentional, he said.

Alpha Genesis has said efforts to recover all the monkeys will continue for as long as it takes at its compound about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia.

The monkeys are about the size of a housecat. They are all females weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms).

Humans have been using monkeys for scientific research since the late 1800s. Scientists believe rhesus macaques and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93% of the same DNA.

The monkeys pose no risk to public health, Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police have all said. The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical facilities and other researchers.

If people encounter the monkeys, they are advised to stay away from them and not to fly drones in the area. The company said the monkeys are skittish and might run.

The Associated Press