30 monkeys recovered after 43 escaped a South Carolina research facility. How it happened

Police have now recovered 30 monkeys after a group of 43 primates escaped from a medical research facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, on Nov. 6.

Forty-three Rhesus macaque monkeys broke out of the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center Nov. 6, according to a Yemassee Police Department statement.

As of Nov. 11, Yemassee Police Department confirmed that 30 of the 43 monkeys have been captured.

Greg Westergaard, the company’s CEO, told NBC affiliate WSAV-TV in South Carolina on Nov. 7 that an employee of the research center left a door open while cleaning the monkeys’ enclosure, which allowed the monkeys to escape.

Westergaard, who estimated there are several thousand monkeys at the research center, said he believed the monkeys would return to the facility on their own.

One of the escaped monkeys was "successfully recovered unharmed" Nov. 9 at around noon, the police department said in an update that Saturday.

Twenty-four more primates were recovered Nov. 10, though a "sizable group remains active along the fence line" of the facility, police said Sunday.

Veterinarians have been conducting wellness exams on the recovered monkeys, and initial reports show they are in "good health," per the Yemassee Police Department's Nov. 10 update.

The Yemassee Police Department said in the original statement and Saturday's update that there is no health risk associated with the escaped monkeys.

Police advised people to not use drones around the area as it scares the animals and "elevates their stress levels." One drone that flew over the area Nov. 8 "caused a disturbance spooking the animals, further complicating efforts to facilitate their safe return," police said in a statement Nov. 9.

The department has advised residents to keep doors and windows securely closed to prevent the monkeys from entering homes. Residents who see any of the escaped monkeys are being told not to approach the monkeys on their own and instead to immediately call 911.

Traps have set up around the area to capture the monkeys and thermal imaging cameras to help locate them, police said.

The department added that it's working with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state agricultural and wildlife officials to humanely locate and return the monkeys.

According to its website, Alpha Genesis specializes in providing non-human primate models to the biomedical research community.

The Post and Courier newspaper in Beaufort County describes the center as one of the world’s largest breeders of monkeys for research and medical testing.

The monkeys' escape isn't the first time primates have broken out of Alpha Genesis of their own accord. In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped Alpha Genesis for six hours before they were captured, the Post and Courier reported.

The publication also reported that Alpha Genesis secured a federal contract in 2023 to run a large colony of monkeys on Morgan Island, also known as Monkey Island, off the coast of South Carolina, to continue breeding monkeys for medical research.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com