Monkey lab escape: Only 8 remain at large

YEMASSEE, S.C. –

Just eight monkeys remain free from the group who more than a week ago broke out of a South Carolina compound that breeds the primates for medical research, authorities said.

Three more Rhesus macaques were recaptured Wednesday outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, police said in a statement.

Forty-three monkeys made a break for it on Nov. 6 after an employee at what locals call “the monkey farm” didn’t fully lock their enclosure, police said.

They have been lured back with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other treats, officials said.

All the recaptured monkeys have been examined and are in good health, Alpha Genesis employees have told authorities.

A group of monkeys remains outside the fence close to traps set up by the company in the woods around the compound. They can be heard cooing by the Alpha Genesis employees monitoring them, police said.

Alpha Genesis has said that efforts to recover all the monkeys will continue for as long as it takes at its compound about a mile (1.6 kilometres) from downtown Yemassee and about 50 miles (80 kilometres) northeast of Savannah, Georgia.

The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females weighing about seven pounds (three kilograms).

Humans have been using the monkeys for scientific research since the late 1800s. Scientists believe that Rhesus macaques and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93 per cent of the same DNA.

The monkeys pose no risk to public health, Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police have all said. The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical facilities and other researchers.

If people encounter the monkeys, they are advised to stay away from them — and to not fly drones in the area. The company said they are skittish and might run away from where they are gathered.