US town on alert after 43 monkeys escape Alpha Genesis research facility

More than 40 monkeys were on the loose Thursday in a small US town after escaping a research facility, with authorities warning residents to keep their doors and windows closed.

The rhesus macaques – described as “skittish” by police in Yemassee, South Carolina – were reported to have fled their enclosures a day earlier at a facility run by Alpha Genesis, which specialises in primate-based biomedical research.

Search teams were deployed to help locate the monkeys and were “working to entice them with food,” the local police department said on social media.

“Residents are urged to keep their doors and windows securely closed and to report any sighting immediately by dialling 911. Please do not attempt to approach these animals under any circumstances,” it said.

The police force added that all the 43 primates were young females weighing up to 3kg, and that they had not been used for testing.

“A spokesman from Alpha Genesis can confirm that these animals are too young to carry disease,” it said.