Copyright New York Daily News
Eight rhesus monkeys escaped Tuesday when the truck transporting them and 15 fellows from Louisiana to Florida flipped in Mississippi, spilling them onto Interstate 59, authorities said. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office initially issued dire warnings. “The monkeys are approximately 40 pounds, they are aggressive to humans, and they require PPE to handle,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, referring to the personal protective equipment often worn in medical settings. “Do not approach the monkeys if you see one. Call 911. They do pose potential health threats and are aggressive.” The monkeys were being taken from Tulane University in Louisiana to a Florida testing facility when the truck overturned near mile marker 117 north of Heidelberg, about 100 miles from Jackson, the state capital. The escapees fled their broken cages, while the rest were stuck in their intact cages. Believing the monkeys were infected with hepatitis C, herpes and COVID, the sheriff’s office hunted down and “destroyed” all but three slippery simians. One high-tailed it across the interstate and “went out into a wooded area,” Sheriff Randy Johnson told WAPT-TV. It was still on the lam Tuesday evening. “All but one of the escaped monkeys have been destroyed,” the sheriff’s office announced in an update. “We have been in contact with an animal disposal company to help handle the situation.” As it turned out, Johnson had bad intel. Rhesus monkeys typically weigh closer to 16 pounds, and much of what his office said in the initial post turned out to be untrue. “Tulane was not consulted regarding the animals’ ‘destruction,’ ” a university spokesman told the sheriff’s office. “Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery. The primates in question belong to another entity, and they have not been exposed to any infectious agent.” The university noted it was not transporting the monkeys but would collaborate with local authorities for their return. Tulane personnel arrived later Tuesday and took a firm headcount once they got inside the wrecked truck, to find that two more monkeys were unaccounted for, bringing the total number still roaming to three. The sheriff’s office backpedaled while calling out the truck driver. “The driver of the truck told local law enforcement that the monkeys were dangerous and posed a threat to humans,” the sheriff’s office said in another update. “We took the appropriate actions after being given that information from the person transporting the monkeys.”
