40 primates escape research center, prompting warning to residents

( WCSC /Gray News) - Police are searching for 40 primates who escaped a research center in South Carolina.

The Yemassee Police Department is working with the staff of Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center to locate the escaped primates.

According to its website , Alpha Genesis specializes in "nonhuman primate products and bio-research services."

Beaufort County deputies confirmed in a post to X that the primates escaped the research center located on Castle Hall Road in Yemassee on Wednesday evening.

Traps have been set up around the area. Yemassee police were on-site utilizing thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to locate the animals.

Residents are advised to keep all doors and windows secured to prevent the primates from entering inside homes.

While police did not specify the species of the primates, according to the Alpha Genesis macaque and capuchin monkeys are used in clinical trials.

The company also oversees a colony of more than 3,000 monkeys on Morgan Island, known as Monkey Island, off the South Carolina coast.

If anyone locates one of the escaped primates, authorities said not to interact with them and instead call 911 immediately.