COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Forty-three monkeys bred for medical research that escaped from a South Carolina facility have been spotted in the woods near the site and workers are using food to recapture them, authorities said Friday.

The rhesus monkeys made a break for it Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee failed to fully lock a door while feeding and checking on her, officials said.

“They are very social monkeys and they travel in groups, so when the first bunch goes out, the others tend to just join in,” said Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis. CBS News.

Westergaard said his main goal is to return the monkeys safely, without any other problems. “I think they’re having an adventure,” he said.

The monkeys were exploring the outer fence of the Alpha Genesis complex on Friday and cooing at the monkeys inside, police said in a statement.

“The primates are exhibiting calm and playful behavior, which is a positive indication,” the police statement said, adding that company employees are closely monitoring the monkeys while keeping their distance as they work to recapture them safely.

The monkeys are about the size of a cat. They are all females and weigh about 3 kilos.

Alpha Genesis, federal health officials and police all said the monkeys do not pose a risk to public health. The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.

“They are not infected with any disease. They are harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday.

Authorities still recommend that people living near the compound, about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee, close their windows and doors and call 911 if they see the monkeys. As you approach them, they can become more skittish and harder to catch, officials said.

Eve Cooper, a biology professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who has studied rhesus monkeys, said the animals could be potentially dangerous and urged people to keep their distance.

Rhesus macaque monkeys can be aggressive. And some carry the herpes B virus, which can be fatal to humans, Cooper said.

However, Alpha Genesis states on its website that it specializes in pathogen-free primates. Cooper noted that there are pathogen-free populations of rhesus macaques that have been quarantined and tested.

“I’d give them a big lead,” Cooper said. “They are unpredictable animals. And when they are afraid, they can behave quite aggressively.”

Alpha Genesis supplies primates for research around the world on its property, about 50 miles northeast of Savannah, Georgia, according to its website.

Locally it is known as ‘the monkey farm’. And there’s more amusement than panic surrounding Yemassee and its roughly 1,100 residents just off Interstate 95, about two miles from Auldbrass Plantationa house by Frank Lloyd Wright, designed in the 1930s.

There have been escapes before, but the monkeys haven’t caused any problems, said William McCoy, owner of Lowcountry Horology, a clock repair shop.

“Normally they come home because that’s where the food is,” he said.

McCoy has lived in Yemassee for about two years now, and while he plans to stay away from the monkeys, he has his own light-hearted plan to get them back.

“I’m stocking up on bananas, maybe they’ll come,” McCoy said.

The Alpha Genesis complex is regularly inspected by federal officials.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Alpha Genesis $12,600, in part after officials said 26 primates escaped from the Yemassee facility in 2014 and another 19 in 2016.

The company’s fine was also imposed due to individual monkey escapes and the killing of one monkey by others when it was placed in the wrong social group, according to a USDA report.

The group Stop Animal Exploitation Now sent a letter to the USDA on Thursday asking it to immediately send an inspector to the Alpha Genesis facility, conduct a thorough investigation and treat them as repeat offenders. The group was involved in the 2018 fine against the company.

“The apparent carelessness that allowed these 40 monkeys to escape not only jeopardized the animals’ safety, but also endangered the residents of South Carolina,” wrote Michael Budkie, the group’s executive director.

The USDA, which has inspected the complex 10 times since 2020, did not immediately respond to the letter.

The most recent federal inspection of the facility in May found there were about 6,700 primates on site and there were no problems.

In a 2022 review, federal veterinarians reported that two animals died when their fingers were trapped in structures and exposed to harsh weather conditions. They also discovered that the cages were not sufficiently secure. Inspectors said criminal charges, civil penalties or other sanctions could follow if the problems were not resolved.

Since then, Alpha Genesis has undergone six inspections, with minor issues reported only once.

In January 2023, the USDA said temperatures were outside the required range of 45 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 to 29.5 degrees Celsius) at some monkey cages at the complex. The inspection found moldy food in one container, sharp edges on a fence that could cut an animal, and sludge, food waste, used medical supplies, mechanical equipment and general construction debris on the property.

So say proponents of medical research involving non-human primates they are critical to life-saving medical advances such as creating vaccines against COVID-19 because of their similarities to humans. Maintaining a domestic supply of the animals is crucial to avoid shortages for U.S. researchers.

People have been the use of the rhesus monkey for scientific research since the end of the 19th century. Scientists believe that rhesus monkeys and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93% of the same DNA.

These monkeys have been launched into space on V2 rockets, used for AIDS research, had their genomes mapped and become stars of their own reality TV show. These animals were in such high demand in the early 2000s that a shortage led to scientists paying up to $10,000 per animal.

Aside from rats and mice, rhesus monkeys are one of the most studied animals in the world, says Dario Maestripieri, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago who wrote the 2007 book “Macachiavellian Intelligence: How Rhesus Macaques and Humans Have Conquered the World.” ”

The animals are very family oriented and will side with family members when fights break out. And they are adept at building political alliances despite threats from other apes. But they can be painful to watch. Monkeys with lower status in the hierarchy live in a constant state of fear and intimidation, Maestripieri said.

“In some ways they represent some of the worst aspects of human nature,” Maestripieri said.

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Lovan reported from Louisville, Kentucky, and Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.