Residents warned

Automatically saved draft

According to police, the 43 monkeys escaped on Wednesday from a laboratory belonging to the company Alpha Genesis, which specializes in biomedical research on primates.(Bild: Ｋブリッジ - stock.adobe.com)

In the small town of Yemassee in the state of South Carolina, 43 rhesus monkeys have escaped from a research laboratory in the USA. Residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed. The rhesus monkeys are "unpredictable". The research laboratory emphasizes that there is no risk of disease transmission.

The escaped animals are said to be 43 young females weighing up to three kilograms. No tests have yet been carried out on them. "A spokesperson for Alpha Genesis can confirm that these animals are too young to transmit disease," the police said.

Search teams tried to track down the monkeys and "attract them with food". Initially, however, without success.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Uwe Anspach)

"Residents are urged to keep their doors and windows firmly closed and to report any sightings immediately by calling 911," it continued. "Please do not attempt to approach these animals under any circumstances."

Door not locked - animals escaped
According to Westergaard, the monkeys were able to escape because a keeper had not closed a door.

Greg Westergaard, head of the research laboratory, was "frustrated" by the incident. He hoped "for a happy ending" on the television station CBS News. Afterwards, one animal imitated the other: "It's kind of like 'follow the leader': first one goes and then all the others go too."