A monkey that escaped following a truck accident in Mississippi last week was shot and killed by a homeowner on Sunday out of concern for her children’s safety. Jessica Bond Ferguson, a resident near Heidelberg, Miss., was alerted by her son about a monkey in their yard. She took action by firing shots at the monkey, which eventually fell.
After the incident, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the homeowner had encountered one of the escaped monkeys on their property, and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the monkey. The truck, carrying the monkeys that overturned on Interstate 59, resulted in the death of most of the 21 monkeys, with three monkeys reportedly escaping.
The Rhesus monkeys were originally housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center but were not being transported by the university. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred about 160 kilometers from Jackson, the state capital.
Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson emphasized the need to “neutralize” the monkeys due to their aggressive nature, despite reports indicating they were not infectious. The monkeys had received checkups confirming they were pathogen-free. Rhesus macaques are known to be aggressive, leading to conservation workers and sheriff’s officials collaborating in the search for the escaped animals.
This incident follows a similar event in South Carolina where 43 Rhesus macaques escaped due to an enclosure oversight, prompting efforts to recapture them. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks continues to work on locating the escaped monkeys.