[monkeywire] Monkey escapes from S.C. island laboratory
Josh Greenman
joshg1973 at yahoo.com
Mon May 9 00:12:45 EDT 2005
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/11597789.htm?
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Monkey escapes from S.C. island laboratory
Associated Press
BEAUFORT, S.C. - An escapee from Morgan Island has been captured in a
tree in the backyard of a home on Lady's Island - about 7 miles away
from where he was supposed to be.
The 10-year-old, 20-pound male rhesus monkey was first noticed as
missing from the island April 30, the same time residents of Coosaw
and Lady's islands reported seeing him. Some residents were concerned
the animal might carry an infectious disease because Morgan Island
houses primates used in government research.
Alpha Genesis officials said they can't explain how the monkey
managed to leave the island laboratory and make its way across Parrot
Creek.
"I have been here eight years and this is the first (escape) I can
remember in the area," said Greg Westergaard, president and chief
executive officer of Alpha Genesis. "I'm at a loss at how it got over
there. They probably can swim a little bit, but it really is a long
way over there."
The monkeys have been on the island since 1979 and are the property
of the Food and Drug Administration. They are used in defense and
vaccine development studies.
The escaped monkey was caught Tuesday, Westergaard said. "I'm sure he
wanted to get back but couldn't figure out how," he said.
But the escapee won't be going back to the 400-acres colony on Morgan
Island. Instead, he'll probably be taken to one of two breeding
facilities in Yemassee or Early Branch, Westergaard said.
Westergaard said it was unlikely the monkey would have a disease
because the research performed on the animals isn't done at the
island. The monkeys also go through physical examinations four times
a year to make sure they are healthy and carry no diseases, he said.
"This monkey's in great shape," he said.
He said there are no artificial barriers keeping the monkeys on the
island other than the water surrounding it, as they tend to be social
creatures and stay with other monkeys.
"I don't know what happened to this guy," Westergaard said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/11597789.htm?
template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Posted on Sun, May. 08, 2005
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