Gang of monkeys escape South Carolina biomedical research facility

Lock your doors and windows, say police, but these should be disease-free

We regret to inform you that the United States may soon collapse into a state of lawless anarchy: 18 of 43 monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina biomedical research facility remain at large – and we all know a horror story or two that starts like that.

OK, maybe that's a bit overblown, but still, police in Yemassee, SC, urged residents to lock their doors and windows, not open up for any tiny little knocks, and to contact them immediately if one of the rhesus macaques that escaped late last week from the Alpha Genesis Research Center is spotted.

The call came in at around 1300 local time on November 6, police said, informing them of the escapees from the Alpha Genesis facility just outside of Yemassee. CEO Greg Westergaard told local news that the escape was down to human error, with a caretaker failing to secure a pair of doors that led into the monkeys' enclosure.

"It really is just waiting and it's frustrating because we would like to have them back sooner or later," Westergaard told Charleston's Live 5 News. "You can't chase them because they scatter. In this form, they should stay in the same area and we should see some come on back."

For those worried the escapees could be carrying a devastating, society-ending disease, fear not – or so the authorities say. Police report that the group consists of "very young females weighing approximately 6-7 lbs" (around 3 kg) that "have never been used for testing due to their young age and size."

Alpha Genesis says the animals "are too young to carry disease," if that's any reassurance.

Due to their genetic similarity to humans, primates carry a number of pathogens that can be transmitted to humans through bites, scratches, aerosolized fluids, and the like. Stressed monkeys – like those who've just escaped captivity for the first time in their lives – are more likely to lash out and cause an injury that could lead to infection.

Alpha Genesis's main mission is to breed monkeys for biomedical research, though the company notes it does perform contract research at its own facility, which locals have nicknamed "the monkey farm" per news reports. The company notes that it maintains health records for all of the animals in its more than 100-acre facility to ensure test subjects are free from disease.

"The Yemassee Police Department, in collaboration with Alpha Genesis, have initiated search teams to help locate the escaped primates," the cops said in Facebook post. "Alpha Genesis currently have eyes on the primates and are working to entice them with food."

Traps have been set, and the police noted that they've deployed thermal imaging cameras. Neither the Yemassee Police nor Alpha Genesis responded to requests for an update.

According to AP, 25 of the monkeys were caught unharmed at the weekend yet the others remain at large, albeit in close proximity to the research facility.

If it's gonna happen somewhere …

We could end the story here, with news that these macaque escapees are young, probably not diseased, and free from potential research contamination, but this isn't the first time such an incident has happened at the Alpha Genesis monkey farm.

As the Charleston-based Post and Courier noted in its coverage of the latest breakout, 26 monkeys escaped the facility in 2014, and another 19 escaped two years later. Incidents at the facility between 2014 and 2016 resulted in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) fining [PDF] Alpha Genesis $12,600 for its failures.

In addition to those escapes, a USDA inspection in 2022 found six incidents involving animals getting out of their enclosures due to "weaknesses in the chain-link fences or opened panels between cages," the Courier claimed. Agricultural inspectors found more violations in 2023, with cleaning, temperature maintenance, sharp edges that could cause injuries, and moldy food provided to animals being highlighted.

Those discoveries reportedly led to Alpha Genesis getting a warning from the USDA to clean up its act or face civil/criminal penalties and other sanctions, and this latest escape isn't likely to help the company's reputation with the feds, who have already been notified of the incident.

Animal rights watchdog Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) has moved quickly to file a federal complaint [PDF] about the matter, urging the USDA to penalize Alpha Genesis as a repeat offender and citing the 2022 inspection report.

"Alpha Genesis must be fully investigated and prosecuted," said SAEN director Michael A Budkie. "The clear carelessness which allowed these forty monkeys to escape endangered not only the safety of the animals, but also put the residents of South Carolina at risk."

SAEN is calling for Alpha Genesis to be fined the maximum of $12,722 per infraction per animal. "Even if the USDA were to levy a reduced fine of only 25 percent of the maximum, the penalty could easily reach six figures due to the involvement of forty monkeys," Budkie said. ®