Last Four Monkeys Return to ‘Monkey Farm’ in South Carolina

Officials in the southern U.S. state of South Carolina have recaptured the last of 43 monkeys who escaped from a farm that raises monkeys in early November.

The chief executive of Alpha Genesis research center, Greg Westergaard, said the final four recaptured monkeys appeared to be in good health. The remaining monkeys had spent weeks living in the woods and even experienced a rare snowstorm.

Alpha Genesis is a company that offers services to biomedical researchers. Some locals call it “the monkey farm." The animals – all female rhesus macaque monkeys – escaped from the grounds of the company on November 6.

Police who investigated the incident said the monkeys escaped when an employee did not fully secure their enclosure. Westergaard explained in November that workers were supposed to lock one gate before opening another, but all three gates were left unsecure.

Employees at Alpha Genesis tried to persuade the monkeys to return with offers of special foods. These included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and "monkey biscuits" – a high-protein food made specially for rhesus macaques.

Alpha Genesis employees kept an eye on the monkeys and set out humane traps. Most of the animals came back to eat the food.

Most of the monkeys did not go far. The animals are about the size of a cat, weighing around 3 kilograms. The monkeys never represented a risk to public health, police and federal health officials said. During the time they were free, the area received its first snow in seven years, measuring up to 8 centimeters.

The Alpha Genesis company raises the monkeys to sell to medical labs and other researchers. Humans have been using the monkeys for scientific research since the late 1800s. Scientists believe rhesus macaques and humans split from a common ancestor about 25 million years ago and share about 93 percent of the same DNA.

I’m Jill Robbins.

This story was reported by staff of the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.

lock – n. a device that keeps something (such as a door, window, or box) from being opened and that is usually opened by using a key

gate - n. a place in a wall or a fence that has a movable part which can be opened or closed like a door

biscuit – n. a small, light roll that is eaten as part of a meal

humane - adj. kind or gentle to people or animals

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