Police are chasing 40 monkeys that escaped from the research facility South Carolinawarns local residents to keep their windows and doors closed.

fugitives wanted by police in Yemassee, South Carolina. Officers said the monkey “escaped from a business called Alpha Genesis, which provides inhumane primate products and products.” bio-research Services,” according to the website.

Police and animal handlers have set traps in the area where the monkeys are believed to be hiding and are using thermal imaging cameras to help identify the primates. NBC News reports.

“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secure to prevent these animals from entering homes,” the Yemassee Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The Yemassee Police Department said anyone who sees or finds a monkey is asked to call 911.

“Do not try to take them home or pet them,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said. Postal and Courier. “We hear a lot of these things on social media. It’s a crime because they don’t belong to you.”

Alpha Genesis conducts research trials using monkeys and is proud to be “one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities specifically designed for monkeys in the United States.” There are more than 6,000 monkeys at the facility, according to federal data.

The sheriff’s department has not confirmed which monkey species escaped from the lab, but Alpha Genesis’ website says it works primarily on capuchins and macaques.

It’s unclear whether the monkeys were part of an ongoing clinical trial and, if so, what type of testing they underwent before escaping.

Alpha Genesis maintains a colony of 3,500 monkeys on South Carolina’s Morgan Island (since known as Monkey Island), where it raises monkeys for research purposes.

This isn’t the first time monkeys have escaped into South Carolina’s Beaufort County; Regional newspaper, Postal and CourierIt reported numerous other escape incidents, including one in 2016 when 19 monkeys escaped for six hours.

In addition to Alpha Genesis’ Monkey Island in South Carolina, there are at least three monkey species with breeding populations living in Florida (none are native), including rhesus macaques that were intended to be part of a tourist attraction in the 1930s ). The descendants of these monkeys still roam parts of Florida to this day.