Three monkeys still loose after truck crash in Mississippi

Three monkeys of the species rhesus macaques, used for research at Tulane University, are still on the lam after escaping from a truck following a crash in Mississippi this week.

The crash happened on Tuesday along U.S. Interstate 59, letting loose some of the monkeys whose cages were damaged in the incident, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department said.

As of Tuesday night, 13 monkeys from the truck were recaptured, five were dead and the remaining trio was still missing, according to Jackson’s WLBT. Authorities have not specified whether the five dead monkeys died in the crash or were killed afterward.

The sheriff’s department, relaying information from the truck driver, initially said the monkeys were aggressive, that they were carrying hepatitis C, COVID and herpes and that use of personal protective equipment was required to handle them.

Tulane University, in a subsequent statement published by the sheriff’s department, said “Nonhuman primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery. The primates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious. We are actively collaborating with local authorities and will send a team of animal care experts to assist as needed.”

The New Orleans school has not said whom the monkeys belong to. The recaptured monkeys were taken back to Tulane, according to The Associated Press.

The crash happened shortly after the truck, which was not owned by the school, left the research center, Tulane spokesperson Michael Strecker told New Orleans’ Times-Picayune.