YEMASSEE, S.C. (AP) — Authorities in South Carolina said Friday the last four of 43 escaped monkeys were recaptured after two months in the forest, weathering a Rare snowstorm and back into captivity on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The Rhesus Macaque monkeys, all female, are on a break after police say an employee didn’t Lock their housing completely At Alpha Genesis, a facility that breeds them for medical research – known to locals as ‘The Monkey Farm’.
The recaptured monkeys appeared to be in good health, Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard said in a statement relayed by Yemassee police in a social media post, without further details.
Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty images
While they were free, the area saw its first snow in seven years, bringing with it up to 3 inches (8 centimeters).
The rhesus macaques made a break for it on November 6 and mostly hung out near the facility. They are about the size of a cat, weighing about 7 pounds (3 kilograms).
It appears an employee inadvertently left the gates unlocked when the monkeys escaped, Westergaard said in November. Workers were required to lock and latch one gate before opening another, but all three gates and the lock remained unsuitable.
The monkeys posed no public health risk, said Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and law enforcement.
Alpha Guard employees monitored the monkeys and set humane traps. Most were lured back with food and given peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and “monkey cookies”—a Purina Monkey Chow protein specially formulated for rhesus macaques.
The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical facilities and other researchers. People have been Using the monkeys for scientific research Since the end of the 19th century. Scientists believe that rhesus macaques and humans diverged from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93% of the same DNA.
The compound is located about one mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia.