Monkeys escape from Alpha Genesis research facility in South Carolina

A police search is underway after 43 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Police in Yemassee, in Beaufort County, said the Rhesus macaque primates escaped from Alpha Genesis, a business that provides “nonhuman primate products and bio-research services,” according to its website.

The monkeys are a group of “very young females” that have never been used for testing. An Alpha Genesis spokesperson confirmed to police that the animals “are too young to carry disease,” police said in a statement.

“Alpha Genesis currently have eyes on the primates and are working to entice them with food,” police said Thursday afternoon.

Traps have also been set up and officers are using thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to recapture the animals, police said.

“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. Anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it but instead call 911, it said.

The company works with monkeys to carry out clinical trials, including on brain disease disorder treatments, and says it has “one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States.”

Greg Westergaard, founder and CEO of Alpha Genesis, told NBC News that the escape Wednesday was a result of “purely human error.”

“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,” Westergaard said.

A history of enclosure issues

The company secured a federal contract to run a colony of 3,500 monkeys on Morgan Island off South Carolina, also known as Monkey Island.

Alpha Genesis has a license as a Class B dealer and is registered as a research facility, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s public inspection reports.

A September 2022 inspection report shows Alpha Genesis was fined over a “critical” issue with its housing facilities after six separate incidents occurred of animals opening or escaping their primary enclosures that year.

“They did not leave the property and were rounded up pretty quickly,” Westergaard said of the 2022 incident.

At least 11 animals from two different groups were able to escape “through weaknesses in the chain link fences of their primary enclosure but remained contained within the perimeter fence,” the report said.

Six others were able to open the panels between their cages and had “unplanned” interaction. Three of the animals required veterinary care afterward.

One other animal also escaped its enclosure and required care, the report said. All of the animals were recovered.

A 2015 inspection report also noted issues with the animals’ primary enclosures, noting that a cynomologus macaque monkey was able to escape after her cage “was closed with a clip not a lock.”

The same inspection report said two other monkeys escaped from an outdoor chain link enclosure, “breaking some thin wire attaching the fence to the frame.” One of the monkeys was captured using the bait, while the other one was “darted” because it was near the perimeter fence.

“The darted one suffered internal injuries which even with treatment, led to its death,” the report said.

Inspection records show that Alpha Genesis had no issues across four visits from February 2023 to May of this year.

The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston reported that primates have escaped several times before in the area. The newspaper reported that in 2016, 19 animals evaded security at Alpha Genesis before they were captured six hours later.

According to the newspaper, 26 animals escaped in 2014. The Agriculture Department fined Alpha Genesis more than $12,000 over multiple incidents, The Post and Courier reported.