The Saga of South Carolina’s Escaped Lab Monkeys Isn’t Over Yet

Local authorities say a “sizable group” of escaped primates is still active outside a South Carolina facility linked to “brain disorder research.” The incident may sound like dystopian sci-fi fodder, but the lab monkeys apparently pose no public health risk, facility management told police.

Yet, the Yemassee, South Carolina Police Department is urging the public to avoid the nearby area where dozens of young rhesus macaques recently fled. Of the 43 runaways initially disclosed by the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center—known as the “monkey farm” to locals—18 remain on the loose near the South Carolina coast, a Sunday-night update shared on the department’s Facebook page said. The department cautioned residents to secure their doors and windows to prevent the primates from getting into their homes.

The escaped macaques are reportedly all female, weigh roughly six pounds, and were too young to have been used in any research. They’ve been on the loose since around 1 p.m. ET on November 6, and a “sizable group remains active along the fence line and at this time have bedded down in the trees for the night,” per the Facebook update.

As for how the primates escaped in the first place, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard blamed it on “purely human error” in a statement to NBC last week. “The incident yesterday involved a new enclosure, and occurred because the caretaker who was doing routine cleaning and feeding failed to secure two separate doors,” he said.

Along with discouraging the public from interacting with the primates in any way, police urged residents to “AVOID FLYING DRONES” nearby after one apparently spooked the monkeys last week, complicating capture efforts. The primates that have been captured so far are in “good health,” the police claimed.

“She is well and having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” said Westergaard of one of the captured macaques in another statement.

“This is not the first time this specific plant has had this issue,” one commenter pointed out on the local police department’s Facebook page. “Keep running little fellows,” another replied.

Alpha Genesis, which claims to provide “only the best and most cost-effective primate research,” has seen numerous escapes over the past decade and faced thousands of dollars in related fines from the Department of Agriculture, according to local paper the Post and Courier.

Nearby, Alpha Genesis manages a federally funded research facility on Morgan Island, which locals have dubbed Monkey Island. The site is home to thousands of primates and faces ongoing scrutiny from animal rights advocates as well as South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace.

“Taxpayers should not be forced to spend $20 billion per year on wasteful and cruel experiments involving dogs, cats, monkeys, and other animals,” Mace wrote on X in January.