All 43 research monkeys that escaped a South Carolina facility in November have been safely recaptured, the Yemassee Police Department said in an update Friday.
The monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis facility after a caretaker failed to secure a door properly, ending up in a wooded region surrounding the facility. It’s not clear where the primates roamed before they were all found.
Residents nearby were urged to lock their windows and doors at the time, and to call 911 if they spotted any of the primates.
“These animals are highly sensitive and easily startled, we recommend that the public avoid the area to prevent frightening them further,” police said at the time.
Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said the recaptured monkeys “are in good health,” according to police.
“It was a real team and community effort,” Westergaard said of the search for the primates.
The monkeys are all very young females weighing 6 to 7 pounds, according to police. Alpha Genesis conducts medical research for a range of clients for several conditions, including brain disorders.
Kathleen Conlee, vice president of animal research issues for the nonprofit Humane Society of the United States, says she is concerned about what will happen to the animals next.
“The reality is that means either being sent to a laboratory for a lifetime of suffering and ultimately death or being used as breeders and having their offspring taken from them for that fate,” Conlee said.
The Humane Society is determined to move away from a monkey breeding and testing system, to “more effective technologies based on human biology that don’t involve the suffering of animals,” Conlee said.
