After two months of living in the woods following a rare snowstorm, the last four of 43 escaped monkeys in Yemassee, South Carolina, have finally been recaptured. These rhesus macaque monkeys, all females, had made a break for it after an employee failed to fully lock their enclosure at Alpha Genesis, a facility known locally as “the monkey farm” where they are bred for medical research.
The monkeys were enticed back into captivity with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a tempting treat after their time in the wild. Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard confirmed that the recaptured monkeys appeared to be in good health, although further details were not provided.
During their time on the loose, the monkeys experienced their first snowfall in seven years, with up to 3 inches (8 centimeters) accumulating in the area. Despite their escape, the monkeys mostly stayed near the facility and posed no risk to public health, according to Alpha Genesis, federal health officials, and local police.
It was revealed that the monkeys had escaped on November 6, with a worker accidentally leaving the gates unlocked. The facility had protocols in place for securing the gates, but all three were left unsecured, allowing the monkeys to roam freely.
Alpha Guard employees monitored the monkeys during their escape and set out humane traps to lure them back. The monkeys were successfully enticed back with food, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and “monkey biscuits,” a high-protein Purina Monkey Chow specially formulated for rhesus macaques.
The facility breeds these monkeys for sale to medical facilities and researchers. Humans have been using rhesus macaques for scientific research since the late 1800s, as they share about 93% of the same DNA with humans, having split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago.
Located about a mile from downtown Yemassee and 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, the Alpha Genesis compound is now secure once again, with all the escaped monkeys safely back in captivity.
