A police search continues after 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday night.

Beaufort County Yemassee police said the animals escaped from Alpha Genesis, a business that provides “non-humane primate products and bioresearch services,” according to its website.

Police said traps were set and officers used thermal imaging cameras in an attempt to recapture the animals.

“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. It has been stated that anyone who finds a monkey should not interact with it but instead call 911.

The company works with monkeys to conduct clinical studies. brain disease disorder It conducts treatments and says it has “one of the largest and most comprehensive nonhuman primate facilities designed specifically for monkeys in the United States.”

The sheriff’s department did not specify the breed of the smuggled primates, but the company’s website says it works on macaques and capuchin monkeys.

It is not known which experiments the escaped monkeys participated in and whether they were exposed to any diseases. Alpha Genesis did not immediately respond to a request for comment overnight from NBC News.

The company signed a federal contract Manage a colony of 3,500 monkeys It’s on Morgan Island off the coast of South Carolina, also known as Monkey Island.

Post and Courier newspaper in Beaufort County reported There have been several primate escapes from the region before, including in May this year and in 2016, when 19 primates escaped security at Alpha Genesis and were recaptured six hours later.

Three monkeys escaped after a traffic accident in rural Pennsylvania in 2022.