The search for the last of the research monkeys that escaped after a truck crashed in Jasper County last week is now over.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks confirmed Thursday afternoon that a resident called the state agency to inform them she spotted the remaining rhesus macaque. The animal was successfully recovered, according to MDWFP officials.
“The final Rhesus Macaque was recovered in Jasper County near the crash site following a report from a resident who called 1-800-BE-SMART to provide the animal’s location. A local officer and a wildlife transport contractor responded to the call and successfully recovered the animal,” a statement from the agency reads.
WDAM-TV reported that the final monkey on the loose was spotted by a Vossburg woman. Brandy Smith told the station that she saw it on her property on Wednesday afternoon after her dog started barking. Her neighbors called law enforcement, and PreLabs, LLC – a biomedical support company that said it owns the monkeys – sent someone to tranquilize and capture it.
PreLabs, LLC did not immediately respond Thursday afternoon to a request for comment from SuperTalk Mississippi News. The company said in a press release earlier in the week that the monkeys were “being lawfully transported in compliance with all federal and state regulations to a licensed research facility” at the time of the crash.
On the afternoon of Oct. 28, a truck hauling 21 rhesus macaques was heading from the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center in Covington, La., when it went off into a median alongside Interstate 59 near mile marker 117. In total, 21 monkeys were on board, with eight getting loose. The other 13 remained inside and were taken to their original destination.
Deputies with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department responded to the crash and shot five of the escaped monkeys, killing them, after they were inaccurately informed that the monkeys carried diseases such as herpes, hepatitis, and COVID. Both Tulane and PreLabs later issued releases saying the monkeys were pathogen-free. But the word didn’t fully get out as another one of the monkeys was shot by a homeowner near Heidelberg on Sunday.
MDWFP confirmed Tuesday that another one was found deceased, although no information has been provided on how it died.
The driver of the monkey-carrying truck was Andre Malcom, a 54-year-old working for the Maryland-based transport company Wildlife Facilitators. There was a passenger, who the Mississippi Highway Patrol confirmed was a 34-year-old. Neither was injured.
Officials with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department initially said the truck was going to a testing facility in Florida, but WDAM-TV later reported it was actually going to a facility in Maryland.
