Monkeys being transported Tuesday on a Mississippi highway escaped after the truck carrying them overturned, and all but three that got out have since been killed, authorities said.
The crash happened approximately 100 miles from the state capital of Jackson. It’s not clear what caused the truck to overturn. Video showed monkeys crawling through the tall grass on the side of Interstate 59 just north of Heidelberg, Mississippi, with wooden crates labeled “live animals” crumpled and strewn about.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Department said the rhesus monkeys were from Tulane University, and initially wrote in a post on Facebook that “they are aggressive to humans and they require PPE to handle.”
The department later said on Facebook that “[t]here are 3 monkeys still on the loose after the officials from Tulane were able to get inside the truck and get a correct count.”
It’s not clear how many monkeys were originally in the truck or how many were killed.
The sheriff’s department said the driver of the truck relayed that “the monkeys were dangerous and posed a threat to humans,” and that it took “appropriate actions after being given that information.”
Rhesus monkeys, which typically weigh around 16 pounds, are among the most medically studied animals on the planet.
The sheriff’s department initially said the monkeys were carrying diseases, including herpes, but Tulane University said in a statement that the monkeys “are not infectious.” Law enforcement officials did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for clarification.
The monkeys were being housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university.
“The primates in question were not carrying any diseases and had received recent checkups confirming that they were pathogen-free,” Tulane spokesperson Andrew Yawn said in another statement on Wednesday.
Mississippi Wildlife and Fisheries was also on site, according to the sheriff’s department. It wasn’t clear who the monkeys belong to or where they were going.
Rhesus macaque primates have brown fur with red faces and ears. They have close-cropped hair on their heads, which accentuates their very expressive faces. Rhesus macaques were imported to the United States in the 1970s for biomedical research in laboratories, according to the New England Primate Conservancy. Rhesus macaques are “bold, extremely curious and adventurous monkeys,” and the species is “highly adaptable to coexisting alongside humans,” the conservancy says.
