Alpha Genesis
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Alpha Genesis is a company in Yemassee, South Carolina that breeds monkeys and sells the animals for use in research. In 2024, 43 monkeys escaped. The company is one of the largest of its kind in the world.[1]
Traps with bait and infrared cameras are being used by police to try and capture the rhesus macaque monkeys. In 2024 there were more than 6,700 monkeys at the facility.[2]
Greg Westergaard is the company's CEO.[2] The company sells cynomolgous, rhesus and capuchin monkeys. The escaped monkeys are young females.[2]
The company manages Morgan Island, South Carolina, commonly referred to as "Monkey Island".[3] The island is owned by the U.S. government which imported its original monkeys.[4]
Eight years prior to the 2025 monkey breakout 19 primates escaped for several hours before being recaptured.[2] Inspections have found violations at the breeding facility.[1]
The 43 monkeys escaped from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center after a door was left unsecured.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b jwade@postandcourier.com, Mitchell Black and Jessica Wade mblack@postandcourier com (November 6, 2024). "Great primate escape: Dozens of monkeys on lam from Lowcountry breeding facility". Post and Courier.
- ^ a b c d Sang, Lucia Suarez; Smith, Stephen (November 8, 2024). "What we know after 43 monkeys escaped a South Carolina research facility - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ "There's an Island in South Carolina With 4,000 Wild Monkeys". Travel + Leisure.
- ^ Waters, Dustin (February 10, 2016). "A look at South Carolina's very own Monkey Island". Charleston City Paper.
- ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Osho-Williams, Olatunji. "Forty-Three Monkeys Are on the Loose in South Carolina After Escaping a Research Facility When a Door Was Left Unsecured". Smithsonian Magazine.