one of 43 monkeys bred for medical research escape from a compound in South Carolina Officials said on Saturday that he had been recovered safely.
Several others were still located a few yards away from the property, jumping back and forth over the facility's fence, police said in a statement.
Rhesus macaques took a break for this on Wednesday An employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yamasee did not fully close the door while eating and checking in, officials said.
On Friday, monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis campus and shouting at the monkeys inside. The police statement said the primates continued to interact with their companions inside the facility on Saturday, which is a positive sign.
Yamasee Police Department
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said efforts to recover all animals will continue throughout the weekend and as long as it takes, the statement said.
Westergaard told CBS News on Thursday that a caretaker inadvertently failed to secure a door in the enclosure, allowing the monkeys to roam freely.
He said, “It's really like following the leader. You see one moving and you see the other moving.” “It was a group of 50 people and 7 stayed behind and 43 walked out the door.”
Westergaard admitted that getting them back would be a long process and he did not want to chase the monkeys because that would scare them and run away.
“We've got them very close,” he told CBS News. “It's all just what we want to see.”
Monkeys are the size of cats. They are all females weighing about 7 pounds.
Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police all said the monkeys posed no threat to public health. The facility breeds monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.
According to its website, Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its campus in Yamasee, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia.