– They are not carriers of any kind of disease. They are harmless and a bit sloppy, says police chief Gregory Alexander in Yemassee.
The rhesus monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis medical research center on Wednesday after an employee did not close their enclosure properly, Alexander says. We are talking about female monkeys weighing around 3 kilos. They are so young and small that they have not been used for testing yet, he adds.
Employees at Alpha Genesis can see the monkeys and try to lure them with food, the police wrote in a statement the day after the escape.
– The passers-by know them well and can usually get them back with fruit or a treat, says Alexander.
Usually such incidents are handled on the company’s premises a kilometer and a half outside the city, but this time the monkeys got out.
People living nearby have been asked to keep their doors and windows closed so the monkeys don’t find any hiding places indoors. In addition, people are encouraged to call the police if they spot one or more monkeys straying.
Alpha Genesis writes on their website that they supply monkeys for research all over the world from the facility in Yemassee. The small town is about eight miles northeast of the port city of Savannah in Georgia.
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