A tribe of Rhesus monkeys escaped in Mississippi during their journey to a Florida testing facility after the truck transporting them overturned on Tuesday, authorities and local media announced.
Law enforcement shared that the truck’s driver warned them the monkeys “were dangerous” and “posed a threat to humans.”
After receiving the warning, the law enforcement officials said they took appropriate precautions by killing the monkeys, though three monkeys were able to escape, WDAM reported citing Jasper County Sheriff’s office officials.
In total, three monkeys remain unaccounted for, five monkeys were killed, and thirteen were captured and now remain in custody.
Where are the monkeys from?
The monkeys had previously been housed at Tulane University and the institute confirmed they were “not infectious.”
“Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery,” the university said in a statement. “The primates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious.