More than 40 monkeys escaped from a South Carolina prison

Police are searching for more than 40 monkeys that escaped from a medical research facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, on November 6.

According to a statement from the Yemassee Police Department, 43 rhesus monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center on Wednesday afternoon.

According to police, as of November 7, the monkeys had not yet been captured.

Greg Westergaard, the company’s CEO, told the NBC affiliate: WSAV-TV In South Carolina, a researcher at a research facility left a door open while cleaning a monkey enclosure, allowing the monkeys to escape.

Vestergaard, who estimates there are several thousand monkeys at the research center, said he believes the monkeys will return to the center on their own.

According to its website, Alpha Genesis specializes in providing non-human primate models to the biomedical research community.

Post and Courier newspaper in Beaufort County describes center as one of the world’s largest breeders of monkeys for research and medical testing.

The Yemassee Police Department said the escaped monkeys do not pose any health risks.

The department advised residents to keep doors and windows tightly closed to prevent monkeys from entering their homes. Residents who see escaped monkeys are asked not to approach the monkeys themselves, but instead call 911 immediately.

Police say traps and thermal imaging cameras have been set up around the area to help find them.

The department added that it is working with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state agriculture and wildlife officials to humanely locate and return the monkeys.

The apes’ escape is not the first time apes have escaped Alpha Genesis of their own free will. In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped Alpha Genesis within six hours before being caught, The Post and Courier reported. reported.

The publication also reported that Alpha Genesis received a federal contract for manage a large colony of monkeys on Morgan Island, also known as Monkey Island, off the coast of South Carolina, to continue breeding monkeys for medical research.