The final monkey that escaped following a highway crash in Mississippi has been found and captured, authorities confirmed Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, a nearby resident alerted officials after spotting the animal, and it was “successfully recovered,” the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said in a statement.
The monkey was the last of several that escaped after a truck overturned on Interstate 59 on October 28. Five monkeys were killed as law enforcement officers pursued the animals in the immediate aftermath. Body camera footage captured a chaotic scene, with monkeys darting across the grassy median and running toward oncoming vehicles.
Two other monkeys were later shot and killed by civilians, who claimed they were protecting their families and neighborhoods. Officials had cautioned residents not to approach the Rhesus monkeys, describing them as potentially aggressive.
The final monkey was captured Wednesday afternoon near a home in the Vossburg area, east of the crash site. Brandy Smith said she spotted the monkey after her dog began barking, telling WDAM-TV that neighbors called 911. Workers from one of the companies involved in transporting the animals arrived to tranquilize it.
The monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, which supplies primates to research organizations. Tulane said it was not responsible for the transport and did not own the monkeys.
PreLabs, a biomedical research support organization, said the animals were being “lawfully transported to a licensed research facility” and were not carrying any known diseases. Tulane confirmed that thirteen surviving monkeys reached their destination last week.
The incident has drawn renewed attention to the secrecy surrounding the animal research industry and the confidentiality that shields details of such transports and studies from public view.
