Reads like a movie plot. 40 monkeys from a brain and behavior testing facillity escaped in South Carolina and remain on the loose. The antagonist company is actually named "Alpha Genesis", as if that isnt a dead give away. No word on when future Bruce Willis will be showing up. Monkeys escape from Alpha Genesis research facility in South Carolina “Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” Yemassee Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it but instead call 911, it said. The company works with monkeys to carry out clinical trials, including on brain disease disorder treatments, and says it has "one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities, designed specifically for monkeys, in the United States." Alpha Genesis did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.
from the article, sounds like they have eyes on them The monkeys were a group of "very young females" that have never been used for testing. An Alpha Genesis spokesperson confirmed to police that the animals "are too young to carry disease," according to police statement. "Alpha Genesis currently have eyes on the primates and are working to entice them with food," police said Thursday afternoon. Traps have also been set up and officers are using thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to recapture the animals, police said.
Hoping for a happy ending? For who? The monkeys or for the human race? "Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, told CBS News the monkey escape is "frustrating" and he is "hoping for a happy ending" with the primates returning of their own VOLITION."
I guess it is a good thing it is hunting season. I wonder what a taxidermist charges for a young monkey.
I wonder if the Chinese own the testing facility. They wanted to get one started in Levy county a couple of years ago. Here is part of a article from WUFT. I mean what could go wrong? "There apparently will not be any monkey business in Levy County. Plans for a primate research lab in this rural north central Florida county have been shelved. And many residents, still harboring anxieties about the idea, say good riddance. “It’s bad enough that it’s gonna be a monkey lab, and it’s even worse because it’s a monkey lab from China,” said Clevy Watkins, who has lived off County Road 326 for 69 years and was concerned about his new neighbor earlier this year. “It could be another Wuhan,” said Watkins, who lives just a six-minute drive from the site. This and other somewhat xenophobic alarms sounded last August when the Chinese-owned JOINN Biologics bought 1,474 acres of land near Williston for $5.5 million. Prior to the purchase, the Richmond, California-based biomedical company made informal inquiries to the county commission about building a primate quarantine and research facility on the land, according to a detailed statement issued by the Levy County Commission."
In SC : In FL they are a tourist attraction These Wild Florida Monkeys Attract Visitors - And Controversy
Planet of the apes Twelve monkeys 28 days later Outbreak Secret of Nihm - but they were mice We are in big trouble.
Not the first time. In 1989 monkeys being used in Ebola experiments escaped from a facility in Reston, VA. Unlike the escape in South Carolina the one in Virginia had the potential to be truly disastrous considering that Ebola has a very high mortality rate (considerably higher than even the earlier strains of Covid) and is very transmissible. 25 years ago in Virginia, a very different Ebola outbreak How a Virginia suburb became an Ebola epicenter
UPDATE: It’s 43 monkeys not 40 and they are using their enhanced intelligence to bait food from handlers. They are picking the new Caesar - we will become a true banana republic soon. 43 monkeys escape South Carolina research facility; police warn residents to secure doors and windows "They're jumping down and taking the food and then jumping back up on the fence and the tree line," he added. "They're watching us the same way we're watching them." He acknowledged that it would be a long process to get them back. He said that chasing the monkeys would only spook them and make them run away. "We've got them very close," Westergaard said. "This is all like what we want to see." On Thursday, Westergaard told CBS News that a caretaker inadvertently failed to secure a door at an enclosure, allowing the monkeys to roam free.
Don’t be so sure. They are not talking English among themselves until all the humans are far enough away, so we don’t know what they call each other yet.
I can remember when there was a single macaque loose in E. G’ville. It caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. For some readon the SO asked me to try and dart it. Always up for fun, i drove out there with all my gear and sure enough there it was. However that was about as fast a critter running through the trees as anything i had seen running on the ground. Raised my dart rifle to look at it through the scope and it took off through the oak canopy and before i could lower my rifle there were people screaming 4 houses down on the other side of the block. They fast. I packed up and left. It was later caught in a passive trap baited with fruit.
Those have been I remember one showing up in our neighborhood in NW Gainesville around 1970. Not sure what happened to him. Probably someone's pet. There were a lot of trees and woods back then just West of 34th street. No way he would be caught without a trap or if he was tame enough he just went back home. The ones from Silver Springs have shown up miles from there over the years but most seem to stay close to the river.
