Research monkeys are still having fun days after escaping the lab, politicians say

If you need some inspiration to relax and unwind this weekend, look no further than a free-roaming group of monkeys that escaped from their research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday and were still “playfully exploring” their new found freedom as of midday Friday.

In an update Friday, Yemassee, S.C., police said the 43 young female rhesus macaques are still in the area of ​​the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Facility. “The primates demonstrate calm and playful behavior, which is a positive sign,” the department noted.

The fun-loving furballs were released after a caretaker “failed to secure the facility’s doors.”

Alpha Genesis staff kept an eye on the refugees and tried to lure them back into the house with food. But instead of taking the bait, the primates played on the perimeter fence while maintaining contact with the monkeys inside by cooing at them.

“They're just silly monkeys jumping back and forth and playing with each other,” Alpha Genesis CEO Greg Westergaard told CBS News on Thursday. “It’s kind of a playground situation here.”

Yemassee police note that the monkeys are very young and small – each weighing only about 6 to 7 pounds. They have not yet been used for testing, do not transmit disease and pose no health risk to the public. Still, residents have been advised to keep their doors and windows locked in case the small primates try to pay a visit.

This isn't the first time – or even the second time – that Alpha Genesis has struggled to keep its monkeys under control. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined the company $12,600 for violations between 2014 and 2016, including four monkey outbreaks. A total of 30 monkeys escaped in these incidents. One was never found.