43 monkeys escaped from a medical laboratory in South Carolina. Police say there is no serious danger

Forty-three monkeys have escaped from a compound used for medical research in South Carolina, but a nearby police chief said there is “pretty much no danger” to the public.

“They are not infected with any disease. They are harmless and a little cranky,” Yemassey Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday morning.

Rhesus macaque primates escaped from Alpha Genesis on Wednesday when a new employee did not fully close the fence, Alexander said.

Police said the monkeys were female, weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms), so young and small that they were not used for testing.

Alpha Genesis staff are “currently observing the primates and working to lure them with food,” police said in a statement released around noon Thursday.

The company usually deals with escapes on site, but the monkeys escaped the compound about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from Yemassi’s center, Alexander said.

“Managers know them well and can usually get them back with fruit or a treat,” Alexander told The Associated Press by phone.

But to catch these fugitives, you need to work a little more. Alpha Genesis is taking the lead by setting traps and using thermal imaging cameras to catch monkeys on the run, the chief said.

“There is almost no danger to the population,” Oleksandr said.

People living nearby should close their windows and doors so the monkeys can’t find a place to hide inside, and if they see the primates, call 911 so the company and the police can capture them.

Alpha Genesis provides primates for research worldwide at its facility about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website. The company did not respond to an email Wednesday asking about the leak.

In 2018, federal officials fined Alpha Genesis $12,600 after dozens of primates escaped, as well as an incident that left several others without water and other ape-keeping problems.

Officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassa facility in 2014, and another 19 escaped in 2016.

The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now has sent a letter to the USDA asking them to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha Genesis facility, conduct a thorough investigation and treat them as a repeat offender. The group was involved in a fine against the company in 2018.

“The apparent carelessness that allowed these 40 monkeys to escape not only endangered the safety of the animals, but also endangered the people of South Carolina,” Michael Budky, the group’s executive director, wrote in an email Thursday morning.