Mumbai, November 7:  Forty monkeys disappeared from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday night, triggering a police search. The animals escaped from Alpha Genesis, a business that provides nonhuman primate products and bio-research services. Authorities in Yemassee, Beaufort County, have set up traps and are using thermal imaging cameras to locate and recapture the primates.

According to a news report by NBC News, The company conducts clinical trials, including research on brain disorders, using monkeys and claims to have one of the largest and most advanced nonhuman primate facilities in the United States, designed specifically for these animals. While the sheriff's department has not disclosed the breed of the escaped monkeys, the facility's website mentions that it primarily works with macaque and capuchin monkeys. Hong Kong Monkey Deaths: 11 Monkeys Die in Hong Kong’s Oldest Zoo, Bacterial Infection Melioidosis Confirmed As Cause of Death.

The Yemassee Sheriff's Department issued a statement urging residents to secure doors and windows to prevent the escaped monkeys from entering their homes. They also advised anyone who encounters a monkey to avoid interacting with it and instead contact 911 immediately. Monkey Death in Ayodhya: 5 Monkeys Electrocuted to Death While Crossing Barbed Boundary Wire in Uttar Pradesh, Horrific Video Surfaces.

The company holds a federal contract to maintain a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island, known as Monkey Island, off South Carolina’s coast. Escapes have occurred before, including in May and 2016, when 19 monkeys eluded security for six hours. In 2022, three monkeys escaped after a traffic accident in Pennsylvania.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 07, 2024 06:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).