Police are searching for 40 monkeys that escaped from a medical testing and research facility in South Carolina.
The primates escaped from Alpha Genesis in Beaufort County on Wednesday. The Yemassee Police Department said it has "multiple officers collaborating with Alpha Genesis personnel to resolve this situation.
"Traps have been set up around the area, and the Yemassee Police Department is currently on-site utilizing thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the animals," police said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday. "Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes.
"If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them."
According to its website, Alpha Genesis provides the "highest quality nonhuman primate products and bio-research services" across North America, Europe and Asia, and has "one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States." The company's clinical trials reportedly include research on progressive brain disorders.
The breed of the fugitive primates has not been clarified, but the company's website says it works with macaque and capuchin monkeys.
Newsweek has contacted Alpha Genesis for comment via email.
The company has come under the scrutiny of the United States Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service after several monkeys died in its care.
A USDA report said the facility had "enclosures lacking appropriate structural strength and design," which provided "opportunities for escape, entrapment, or unintended interactions with other animals, potentially resulting in injury or death to the animals."
It found that staff members had incorrectly placed primates in non-socialized groups, resulting in one being killed by other monkeys, and that one infant became entangled in mesh designed to hold a water bottle. The animal did not survive.
The USDA said the company had "implemented improvements of the facility's standard operating procedures."
According to The Post and Courier, it is not the first time monkeys have escaped from the facility. In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped but were rounded up and returned within six hours.
The company is also responsible for South Carolina's Morgan Island, known locally as "Monkey Island" for its large population of rhesus monkeys. Visits by the public are not permitted.
Earlier this year, Republican South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace wrote a letter to the National Institutes of Health regarding alleging "wasteful and cruel experiments" on animals taking place on the island.
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