A second monkey has been fatally shot as officials continue their pursuit of a third monkey that went missing following a truck accident on a highway in Mississippi. The incident, which happened a week ago near Heidelberg, involved several monkeys escaping after a vehicle overturned.
On Monday evening, a monkey was spotted crossing a highway approximately a mile from the crash site. Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson reported that a civilian shot the monkey, and a representative from the transport company later retrieved the animal.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks announced that one monkey remains unaccounted for, with two already found dead. Authorities have cautioned the public against approaching these Rhesus monkeys, as they are known for their aggressive behavior.
Earlier in the week, another monkey was shot by a local resident concerned for her children’s safety. Jessica Bond Ferguson took action after her teenage son saw the animal near their home in Heidelberg. She mentioned that residents had been alerted about the potential health risks posed by the monkeys’ diseases, prompting her to shoot it.
The chaos began when a truck carrying 21 monkeys crashed on Interstate 59, north of Heidelberg. The accident led to several monkeys escaping, with video footage capturing the primates and their wooden crates among the tall grass by the road. Search teams clad in protective gear were deployed to comb through nearby fields and forests. Initially, five monkeys were confirmed dead, and three were missing.
The monkeys were en route from the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, well-known for supplying primates for scientific research. Tulane clarified that it was not responsible for the transportation and did not own the monkeys. The remaining 13 monkeys eventually reached their intended destination last week, as per Tulane’s statement.
Prefabs, which describes itself on its website as a biomedical research support organization, said in a statement Monday that a vehicle transporting its non-human primates was involved in the crash and the animals were being lawfully transported to a licensed research facility. It stressed that the monkeys weren’t carrying any known diseases, but asked the public not to approach them as they were likely frightened and disoriented.
“We are cooperating with authorities and reviewing all safety procedures to ensure the continued well-being of both the animals and the community,” PreLabs said.
The escape is the latest glimpse into the secretive industry of animal research and the processes that allow key details of what happened to be kept from the public.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
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