Three research monkeys are still on the loose after a truck carrying the primates going from Louisiana to Florida overturned in Mississippi on Tuesday afternoon.
After the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department initially said that all but one of the escaped rhesus macaque monkeys had been “destroyed” due to law enforcement’s understanding that the species was dangerous and carrying diseases, Sheriff Randy Johnson reported a miscount.
He originally said a total of 21 monkeys were on the truck and six had gotten loose. Deputies then shot and killed five of the monkeys after the truck’s driver told them the monkeys posed a threat to humans. Upon animal experts from Tulane University, where the monkeys were traveling from, arriving to the scene Tuesday evening, it was confirmed that three are still roaming the area.
On Wednesday morning, Tulane released a statement reiterating that the monkeys are not carrying diseases and that the university did not own the monkeys or play a role in the transportation of them to a testing facility in Florida. The monkeys were being housed at the Tulane National Biomedical Center in Covington, La., which is about 40 miles north of the main campus in New Orleans.
“Nonhuman primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery,” the statement, in part, reads. “The nonhuman primates in question were not carrying any diseases and had received recent checkups confirming they were pathogen-free.
“Although Tulane did not transport or own the nonhuman primates at the time of the incident, we sent a team of animal care experts to assist in this tragic accident.”
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks confirmed Wednesday afternoon that conservation officers from the state agency are still on the scene and helping investigate the matter.
“[MDWFP] is coordinating with local authorities in Jasper County following reports of Rhesus Macaques on the loose,” a statement reads. “MDWFP Conservation Officers remain on site and are actively coordinating with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department as part of the ongoing investigation.”
MDWFP also advised the public to “avoid any contact” with monkeys and not to approach them if spotted. Rather, credible sitings can be turned in to law enforcement or the state agency.
It remains unclear who owns the monkeys, who was transporting them and where exactly they were being taken. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department, which originally said the monkeys were en route to a Florida testing facility, is expected to hold a press conference later Wednesday afternoon.
In an unrelated incident last year, 43 rhesus monkeys escaped from a breeding facility in South Carolina. It took authorities two months to recapture them by tempting them with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
