One of the 43 monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina research facility Wednesday night has been “successfully recovered unharmed,” officials said Saturday.
The Yemassee Police Department said in a statement the primate was found around noon Saturday and that a “significant number” of those that remain on the loose have stayed near the Alpha Genesis facility, “jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence.”
As of Thursday night, the monkeys had been located in the wooded region surrounding the Alpha Genesis facility, in a rural area on the edge of Yamassee.
Staff at Alpha Genesis are staying on site through the weekend to feed and watch the animals, police said, noting that the monkeys are still interacting with their “companions inside the facility,” which police called a “positive sign.”
Yemassee police said earlier this week that the group of rhesus macaque primates — all young females who have never been used for testing — escaped from their home at Alpha Genesis, a business that provides “nonhuman primate products and bio-research services,” according to its website.
A spokesperson for the research facility told police the animals “are too young to carry disease,” according to a police statement. Police emphasized Saturday there is not a current threat to public health, citing the research facility.
Traps were set up in the area as police used thermal technology in an attempt to track and recapture the monkeys, police said earlier this week. Staff members at Alpha Genesis were working to entice them with food as well.
On Friday, Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, told NBC News via email: “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. It was purely human error.”
Westergaard, in Saturday’s police statement, said that efforts to recover the monkeys will continue through the weekend, “and for as long as it takes.”
Police urged the public to stay away from the area surrounding Alpha Genesis as the monkeys can be easily startled. Officers also asked the public to refrain from using drones in the area because it “frightens the animals but also elevates their stress levels.”
A drone flew over the area Friday, police said, which “caused a disturbance spooking the animals, further complicating efforts to facilitate their safe return.”
Police also asked the public to call 911 if they spot any of the remaining primates.