This is the moment the monkeys were filmed running through the woods in a small South Carolina town after escaping from a nearby research laboratory.
Police have also released images of their infrared cameras scanning the forest as they search for and attempt to recapture the 43 primates that were released on Wednesday.
The escape has sparked a major search operation in which officers set baited traps to try to attract the animals and locals were urged to close their doors and windows.
The rhesus macaques escaped from the Alpha Genesis laboratory known to locals as the “monkey farm,” which conducts animal testing for vaccines and treatments for human diseases.
Officials say the primates “pose no threat” to the people of Yemassee, a town of 1,000 about 50 miles west of Charleston, but a local business owner told DailyMail.com about his terrifying encounter with one of the animals after a separate incident.
According to an update yesterday at 5:50 pm, none of the primates had been detained and DailyMail.com contacted local officials for more details this morning.
The CEO of Alpha Genesis told this website that the escape occurred after a keeper failed to properly lock one of the outdoor monkey enclosures.
But the lab has been plagued by accidental releases for years — there were six in 2022 alone.
The images above show one of the escaped monkeys in the woods near the laboratory.
Dr. Greg Westergaard, chief executive of Alpha Genesis, said the current troop of escaped monkeys did not pose a threat of infecting people because they had not yet been used in experiments.
The escaped monkeys are mostly small females weighing 6 to 7 pounds, Dr. Westergaard said, who are “scary” and sensitive to loud noises and sudden movements.
Local business owner Charlotte Murray said she knows residents who claim to have seen the primates in their yards.
Ms Murray, who has lived in the area for decades, told DailyMail.com: “The center normally does a great job during escapes, but this is the first time I remember people having been asked to keep doors and closed windows. That’s a change.
‘I’ve seen escaped monkeys near the town hall campus before, but it’s been quite some time since this happened.
«In general, we are not very afraid here. They are lovely animals and I understand that these (the latest escapees) are very small, so I am not afraid.’
Despite police advice to close the homes, DailyMail.com spoke to several other residents who seemed equally unconcerned.
Someone joked that they planned to put out bananas as gifts for the animals.
The above shows infrared images. Police use infrared cameras to scan the surrounding forest for monkeys.
A 2022 USDA report found that between January and August of that year, six leaks were recorded.
In one case, a troop of 10 monkeys escaped through a weak chain link in their fence, while in three other incidents the monkeys managed to remove the wooden panels separating their cages.
There was also an incident where a monkey escaped and abandoned medical care after
Alpha Genesis was fined $12,000 in June 2018 for four previous leaks, as well as other problems with its enclosures.
