8 Escaped Monkeys Remain at Large, Now Joined By Two Fugitive Emus (the-independent.com) 22
Remember those 43 monkeys that escaped from a U.S. research lab? They've caught 35 of them — but haven't yet caught the other eight.
But even worse... The Independent reports that now another animal escape has led to "reports of two large emus running riot..." The birds' owner, Sam Morace, took to social media to plead with locals for their patience, saying: "For everyone that keeps seeing an emu, yes it is mine. There are 2 of them out." Morace said their two flightless birds broke loose three months ago.... "They are feral and not trained like the ones we have at the house."
This provoked some discussion on Facebook. ("Does nobody learn to lasso anymore?") But Morace responded that you "can't lasso a bird you have to grab them by their feet. Their necks are super long and fragile." In another post Morace detailed efforts to capture their birds. "Local law enforcement has already been at my house, we are trying to get a tranquilizer approved so we can bring them home.
"Thank you for all the concerns and questions. But if the emus were that easy to catch they would be home already.
If you're wondering how the escaped monkeys are doing out in the wild, someone who photographed them earlier this week said they appeared "playful, curious and jumping from tree to tree." The Guardian reports local officials have now "requested that the public avoid using drones near the facility. Earlier in the week, they reported that a drone incident 'spooked' the monkeys, increasing their stress levels and complicating efforts to recapture them."
Their article also notes reports that the facility houses 7,000 monkeys. And this isn't the first time some have escaped... In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped from the same facility, according to the Post and Courier newspaper, but were returned after six hours. Earlier, in 2014, 26 macaques reportedly escaped and were captured within two days. Documents from federal regulators from previous years revealed other incidents at the facility, as reported by the New York Times. One involved a primate escaping while being transported to the medical clinic and subsequently disappearing into the woods. Another involved two monkeys breaking out of their outdoor chain-link enclosure, which reportedly resulted in one monkey being lured back inside and the other dying shortly after being recaptured. In 2017, the Department of Agriculture fined the company more than $12,000 partly due to failures to contain the animals, according to the New York Times.
The Guardian also links to a related read from February: "Plan for US 'mini-city' of 30,000 monkeys for medical research faces backlash." Over the next 20 years, the facility will assemble a mega-troop of about 30,000 long-tailed macaques, a species native to south-east Asia, in vast barn-like structures in Bainbridge, Georgia, which has a human population of just 14,000... But the plan faces fierce opposition, with some Bainbridge residents calling on local authorities to block the construction of the proposed primate manse. "They're an invasive species and 30,000 of them, we'd just be overrun with monkeys," claimed Ted Lee, a local man. "I don't think anybody would want 30,000 monkeys next door," added David Barber, who would live just 400ft from the new facility.
But even worse... The Independent reports that now another animal escape has led to "reports of two large emus running riot..." The birds' owner, Sam Morace, took to social media to plead with locals for their patience, saying: "For everyone that keeps seeing an emu, yes it is mine. There are 2 of them out." Morace said their two flightless birds broke loose three months ago.... "They are feral and not trained like the ones we have at the house."
This provoked some discussion on Facebook. ("Does nobody learn to lasso anymore?") But Morace responded that you "can't lasso a bird you have to grab them by their feet. Their necks are super long and fragile." In another post Morace detailed efforts to capture their birds. "Local law enforcement has already been at my house, we are trying to get a tranquilizer approved so we can bring them home.
"Thank you for all the concerns and questions. But if the emus were that easy to catch they would be home already.
If you're wondering how the escaped monkeys are doing out in the wild, someone who photographed them earlier this week said they appeared "playful, curious and jumping from tree to tree." The Guardian reports local officials have now "requested that the public avoid using drones near the facility. Earlier in the week, they reported that a drone incident 'spooked' the monkeys, increasing their stress levels and complicating efforts to recapture them."
Their article also notes reports that the facility houses 7,000 monkeys. And this isn't the first time some have escaped... In 2016, 19 monkeys escaped from the same facility, according to the Post and Courier newspaper, but were returned after six hours. Earlier, in 2014, 26 macaques reportedly escaped and were captured within two days. Documents from federal regulators from previous years revealed other incidents at the facility, as reported by the New York Times. One involved a primate escaping while being transported to the medical clinic and subsequently disappearing into the woods. Another involved two monkeys breaking out of their outdoor chain-link enclosure, which reportedly resulted in one monkey being lured back inside and the other dying shortly after being recaptured. In 2017, the Department of Agriculture fined the company more than $12,000 partly due to failures to contain the animals, according to the New York Times.
The Guardian also links to a related read from February: "Plan for US 'mini-city' of 30,000 monkeys for medical research faces backlash." Over the next 20 years, the facility will assemble a mega-troop of about 30,000 long-tailed macaques, a species native to south-east Asia, in vast barn-like structures in Bainbridge, Georgia, which has a human population of just 14,000... But the plan faces fierce opposition, with some Bainbridge residents calling on local authorities to block the construction of the proposed primate manse. "They're an invasive species and 30,000 of them, we'd just be overrun with monkeys," claimed Ted Lee, a local man. "I don't think anybody would want 30,000 monkeys next door," added David Barber, who would live just 400ft from the new facility.
Okay, but ... (Score:5, Funny)
8 Escaped Monkeys Remain at Large
I'm gonna panic when all 12 monkeys [wikipedia.org] get out ...
Re: (Score:2)
I'm gonna panic when all 12 monkeys [wikipedia.org] get out ...
Was that in base six or ten again?
Emu War?!?! (Score:2)
Could this be the start of the next Emu War?
Emus are domesticated (Score:2)
They're often kept as pets and for hobby scale poultry farming. For a brief time in the 90s there was a tulip mania style emu breeding craze with individual bird prices reaching $5000.
Anyhow, there are emus all over the place, and the escape all the time. The only reason we don't see feral emus here is that most of the US isn't great emu habitat.
Re: (Score:3)
The only reason we don't see feral emus here is that most of the US isn't great emu habitat.
I'm not sure how that's true. The only thing they can't really seem to handle is the cold weather. California in particular seems like the right kind of climate (which is why there are so many eucalyptus trees).
Re: Emus are domesticated (Score:2)
Most of the US isn't great emu habitat
They went to the first trailer park, saw the Pink flamingoes, shook their heads, and strutted out of there.
related news? (Score:5, Funny)
Guys, it can't be a coincidence Trump announced 10 new nominees for his cabinet.
Re: (Score:1)
+1000
This is bad (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Gonna need some .50 BMG to take those suckers down.
Joined (Score:3)
Morace said their two flightless birds broke loose three months ago.... "
Sounds like the monkeys joined the birds, not the other way around.
Re: (Score:1)
Emonkeys?
Gotta be an Elon Neuralink joke in there somewhere.
I can't wait until we invent time travel (Score:2)
Although 8 monkeys and 2 emu doesn't have the same ring as 12 monkeys.
Re: (Score:3)
Although 8 monkeys and 2 emu doesn't have the same ring as 12 monkeys.
I dunno... to me, it sounds like the basis for a bad Christmas song. Has someone contacted Maria Carey?
Re: (Score:1)
"Damn commie woke-sters ruin all of God's good xmas songs!"
Bill Murray exclaims (Score:2)
Macaquesâ¦why does it have to be macaque (Score:2)
Emus arenâ(TM)t an issue, but primates, especially macaques are definitely an issue. Macaques, specifically, since they are often carriers for Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1 (B Virus) Infection, a disease that can easily infect humans through the urine, blood or feces of virus shedding macaques.
The results are gruesome and virtually always fatal:
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/previ... [cdc.gov] December 10, 1997, a,splashed into her right eye.
https://www.ajtmh.org/view/jou... [ajtmh.org]