Runaway monkeys lured back with Froot Loops and PBJs

Last week, a legion of 43 rhesus macaques escaped from a research facility in South Carolina after a caretaker allegedly forgot to latch a door. As of Wednesday, November 13, only 8 of the primates remain on the loose—thanks to Froot Loops to PBJs.

As CBS News reported:

Greg Westergaard, the chief executive officer of the facility Alpha Genesis, in Yemassee, South Carolina, told CBS News that both of the newly-trapped monkeys were healthy and enjoying a meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Froot Loops were also "planned for dessert," Westergaard said. 

He added none of the monkeys, rhesus macaque primates used for biomedical study, showed signs of "ill effects from their adventure" and all continued "to do well."

In a Facebook update, the local police department also noted that the primates, " are currently eating their PB&J sandwiches for dinner" and "have been heard cooing back and forth to each other."

The rhesus macaques had been living at a research facility on Morgan Island, one of South Carolina's Sea Islands—affectionately referred to by the locals as "Monkey Island," perhaps for obvious reasons. The rhesus have been living on the 2,000-acre island since 1979, when about 1,400 of them were moved from a similar open-air research facility in Puerto Rico. Since then, the population has grown to about 4,000, with an average of 750 new rhesus born each year.

The good news (among the bleakness of animal testing) is that the macaques do have largely free roam of the place. As Atlas Obscura notes:

The only people allowed on the [federally protected] island are researchers who tag the monkeys, and take 500 per year from their home for medical testing. Morgan Island's rhesus population has been involved in a number of studies on vaccines, polio, AIDS, and even bio-terrorism. Given the controversy around animal testing, the island is well protected, and off limits to civilians.

While you can't step foot on the island—the monkeys may very well attack you if you did—you can take a boat trip past it, and hope you catch a glimpse of them.

Regarding the ownership and management of the island, Greenville Business Mag notes:

Since 2002, Morgan Island has been the property of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). Although the monkeys that inhabit the breeding colony are property of the U.S. government, various contractors over the years have leased the 370 acres of the island that contain the primate population. Currently, that responsibility belongs to Charles Rivers Laboratories, a Massachusetts-based life sciences firm with a location in West Ashley.

[…]

In South Carolina, research facilities that utilize animal subjects and are overseen by the USDA include the Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, several veterinary technology programs at technical colleges across the state and the former leaseholder for Morgan Island, the primate research firm Alpha Genesis Inc. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been some controversy surrounding the facilities (and the broader use of animal testing in general). South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace has criticized Alpha Genesis in the past, including after a similar mass monkey escape in 2022. From CBS News:

An investigation by CBS affiliate WTOC found that in 2022, Alpha Genesis received eight violations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including a housing facilities violation and a veterinary violation.

The report found that the first eight months of 2022, six monkeys were placed in wrong enclosures – one animal was found dead from "trauma caused by the resident animals in the enclosure," and four animals required subsequent veterinary care.

It's almost like luring escaped monkeys back into cages with Froot Loops is a sign of a much deeper problem!