43 monkeys are still on the run from a South Carolina laboratory. The CEO says he hopes they have an adventure.

Geoffrey Collins, Dylan Lovan and Ben Finlay
| Associated Press

Columbia, South Carolina — Forty-three monkeys bred for medical research that escaped from a camp in South Carolina have been spotted in the woods near the site, and workers are using food to try to capture them, authorities said Friday.

The rhesus monkeys escaped Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee did not fully lock the door while she was feeding and checking on them, officials said.

“They are very social apes and travel in groups, so when the first pair walks out the door, the others tend to just follow,” said Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard. CBS News.

Vestergaard said his main goal is to return the monkeys safely without any other problems. “I think they’re having an adventure,” he said.

The monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis complex on Friday and were cooing at the monkeys inside, police said in a statement.

“The primates exhibit calm and playful behavior, which is a positive indicator,” police said in a statement, adding that company staff were keeping a close watch on the monkeys while maintaining a distance as they tried to catch them safely.

Monkeys are the size of cats. They are all females, weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms).

Alpha Genesis, federal health and police officials said the monkeys do not pose a public health risk. The facility raises monkeys for sale to medical and other researchers.

“They are not infected with any diseases. They are harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday.

Authorities are still advising people living near the complex, about 1 mile from downtown Yemassee, to close their windows and doors and call 911 if they see the monkeys. Getting closer to them can make them more skittish and harder to catch, officials said.

Eve Cooper, a biology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who has studied rhesus monkeys, said the animals are potentially dangerous and urged people to keep their distance.

Rhesus monkeys can be aggressive. And some carry the herpes B virus, which can be fatal to humans, Cooper said.

However, Alpha Genesis states on its website that it specializes in pathogen-free primates. Cooper noted that there are pathogen-free populations of rhesus macaques that have been quarantined and tested.

“I would give them a wide berth,” Cooper said. “They are unpredictable animals. And they can be quite aggressive when they’re afraid.”

Alpha Genesis The company provides primates for research around the world at its facility about 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.

Locals call it the “monkey farm.” And around Yemassee, with its population of about 1,100 people, just off Interstate 95, about 2 miles from Oldbrass PlantationFrank Lloyd Wright’s home, designed in the 1930s.

Escapes have happened before, but the monkeys haven’t caused problems, said William McCoy, owner of Lowcountry Horology, a watch repair shop.

“Usually they come home because there’s food there,” he said.

McCoy has lived in Yemassee for about two years, and while he plans to stay away from the monkeys, he has his own light-hearted plan to get them back.

“I’m stocking up on bananas, maybe they’ll show up,” McCoy said.

The Alpha Genesis complex is regularly inspected by federal officials.

In 2018, the USDA fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 in part after officials said 26 primates escaped from a facility in Yemassee in 2014 and another 19 escaped in 2016.

The company was also fined for the escape of individual monkeys, as well as for the killing of one monkey by others when it was placed in the wrong social group, according to the USDA report.

The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now sent a letter to the USDA on Thursday asking them to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha Genesis facility, conduct a thorough investigation and treat them as repeat offenders. The group was involved in a fine against the company in 2018.

“The sheer carelessness that allowed these 40 monkeys to escape not only endangered the safety of the animals, but also endangered the people of South Carolina,” wrote Michael Badkey, the group’s executive director.

The USDA, which has inspected the complex 10 times since 2020, did not immediately respond to the letter.

The last federal inspection of the facility in May found there were about 6,700 primates on site and no problems.

In a 2022 review, federal veterinarians reported that two animals died when their toes became stuck in structures and they were exposed to harsh weather conditions. They also found that the cages were not secure enough. Inspectors said if the problems are not corrected, criminal charges, civil fines or other penalties could follow.

Since then, Alpha Genesis has undergone six inspections, with minor problems reported only once.

In January 2023, the USDA said temperatures in some monkey cages at the facility were outside the required range of 45 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 to 29.5 degrees Celsius). The inspection found moldy food in one container, sharp gate edges that could have cut an animal, as well as sludge, food waste, used medical supplies, mechanical equipment and general construction debris on the property.

Supporters of medical research involving primates have said they are critical to life-saving medical advances such as COVID-19 vaccines because of their similarities to humans. Maintaining domestic animal supplies is critical to preventing a shortage of American researchers.

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

These monkeys were launched into space on V-2 rockets, used for AIDS research, had their genome mapped, and were made the stars of their own reality TV show. They were in such high demand in the early 2000s that shortages forced scientists to pay up to $10,000 per animal.

Besides rats and mice, rhesus macaques are among the most studied animals on the planet, according to Dario Maestripieri, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago who wrote the 2007 book Macachiavellian Intelligence: How Rhesus Monkeys and Humans Conquered the World. »

Animals are very family-oriented; in case of a quarrel, they take the side of relatives. And they know how to form political alliances in the face of threats from other monkeys. But they can be painful to look at. According to Maestripieri, monkeys with lower status in the hierarchy live in a constant state of fear and intimidation.

“In some ways they represent some of the worst aspects of human nature,” Maestripieri said.

Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky, and Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.