Only eight monkeys remain free outside a complex in South Carolina after more than a week

YEMASSEE, SC – There are only eight monkeys left from the group that left a group more than a week ago South Carolina Connection that breeds the primates for medical research, authorities said.

Three other rhesus monkeys were recaptured Wednesday outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, police said in a statement.

Forty-three monkeys fled on Nov. 6 after an employee at what locals call “the monkey farm” failed to completely lock down their enclosure, police said.

They have been lured back with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other treats, officials said.

All of the recaptured monkeys have been examined and are in good health, Alpha Genesis officials told authorities.

A group of monkeys remain outside the fence, near traps the company has set up in the woods around the property. They can be heard cooing by Alpha Genesis employees who are keeping an eye on them, police said.

Alpha Genesis has said efforts to recover all the monkeys will continue for as long as it lasts on the property about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from downtown Yemassee and about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Savannah, Georgia.

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

People have been the use of monkeys 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.

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

If people encounter the monkeys, they are advised to stay away from them – and not to fly drones in the area. The company said they are skittish and may run away from where they are gathered.