Cops in Florida are warning residents of Orange County and Volusia County to beware of roaming wild monkeys. Orange County police shared photos of one such wild monkey spotted walking along a fence in someone’s backyard.
The authorities have warned residents of both counties to not approach or engage the monkeys. In fact, residents have been advised to contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission if they encounter one such loose monkey.
The monkey menace began on December 13 as residents of nearby cities Deltona and Debery, both around 30 minutes north of Orlando, reported seeing loose monkeys. No one knows where these monkeys came from or how many of them there are.
Wild Monkeys Spotted in Florida
All of this comes weeks after 43 monkeys managed to escape from the Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee, South Carolina—a primate research facility with a name that sounds exactly like an evil primate research facility from a movie. Some have speculated that the Florida monkeys are some of the same as the North Carolina monkeys, but this does not appear to be the case.
There was a report from December 3 stating that the Alpha Genesis primate research facility stopped providing public updates on the status of the six remaining loose monkeys after a damning whistleblower report unveiled the gross, inhumane conditions the monkeys at the facility were living under.
On December 15, there was a report stating that the four remaining monkeys were being closely observed they just hadn’t been captured yet. That implies two of those six have been captured and now the total of loose South Carolina monkeys is down to four and they are still hanging out in trees in South Carolina.
All of this is to say that the South Carolina monkeys and the Florida monkeys are two different packs of loose monkeys. It also suggests that people in the southeastern United States are terrible at keeping track of their monkeys.
The post Wild Monkeys Are on the Loose in Florida and Cops Are Freaking Out appeared first on VICE.
The post Wild Monkeys Are on the Loose in Florida and Cops Are Freaking Out appeared first on VICE.
