To the United States for laboratory biomedical research. According to the conservancy, rhesus macaques are “bold, extremely curious, and adventurous monkeys”
Who are “highly adaptable to coexisting alongside humans.” In a statement, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention verified that.
The monkeys had lived as “free-range monkeys” on Morgan Island before being sent to the Alpha Genesis facility “for conditioning to be around people.”
The institution “must meet standards for the importation, quarantine, and use of NHPs,” according to the CDC, as it is registered as an importer of nonhuman primates.
“As long as people do not approach or come in contact” with the monkeys, “the risk to the public is low,” the CDC said.
Alpha Genesis has had monkey escapes in the past. Nineteen monkeys fled from the company’s facility eight years ago, but they were apprehended around six hours later.
A truck transporting 100 lab monkeys overturned in Pennsylvania last year, allowing many of the creatures to escape. Later, every primate was identified.
