Dozens of monkeys escape research facility after guard leaves gates open | US News

Residents have been warned to lock windows and doors after 43 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina.

A group of female monkeys rushed out of an Alpha Genesis building in Yemassee on Wednesday after a guard ‘failed to secure the doors,’ police said.

‘It’s really like following the leader,’ Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, told CBS News. You see one is gone, the others are gone. ‘It was a group of 50 people and 7 people stayed behind and 43 people rushed out the door.’

In the video, taken from a road next to a forested area, the primates can be seen running quickly along the forest floor.

“They are believed to be in the wooded area surrounding the facility,” police said in an update shared on Twitter. social media on Thursday.

‘Alpha Genesis staff are currently attempting to return the animals using food to ensure their safe capture.’

Traps and thermal imaging cameras were set up in the area to recapture them.

A spokesman for the research company assured the public that the 3kg monkeys were ‘too young to carry the disease’.

But they are described as ‘timid’ and their escape is cause for concern enough for police to warn the public to ‘keep their doors and windows securely closed’.

They were asked to report any sightings immediately.

Alpha Genesis uses monkeys for clinical trials, including treatments for brain diseases.

The company said these monkeys were too young to be used in previous tests.

There had been monkey escapes in this region before, in May this year.

Mr Westergaard said: ‘Every once in a while you can sneak out. ‘It’s very unusual to have such a large group.’

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