Residents of a Pennsylvania county are being warned not to approach a lab monkey that is missing after a Pennsylvania traffic crash.
DANVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Residents of a Pennsylvania county were warned Saturday not to approach a monkey that was missing after a crash involving a pickup that was towing a trailer taking about 100 of the animals to a lab.
State troopers urged people not to look for or capture the cynomolgus monkey following the Friday afternoon crash on a state highway near an Interstate 80 exit in Montour County.
“Anyone who sees or locates the monkey is asked not to approach, attempt to catch, or come in contact with the monkey. Please call 911 immediately,” troopers tweeted.
Several monkeys escaped after the collision between the pickup and a dump truck, but as of Saturday morning only one remained unaccounted for, officials said. The Pennsylvania Game Commission and other agencies searched for it amid frigid weather.
The truck had been on its way to a lab, Trooper Andrea Pelachick told The Daily Item newspaper of Sunbury.
The location of the lab and the type of research for which the monkeys were destined weren’t clear, but cynomolgus monkeys are often used in medical studies. A paper posted on the website of the National Center for Biotechnology Information referred to them as the most widely used primate in preclinical toxicology studies.
Trooper Laura Lesher said state police secured the scene for the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The condition and whereabouts of the remaining monkeys weren’t clear Saturday.
The condition of the motorists also wasn’t clear, nor was it clear whether any citations were issued.
A crash witness, Michelle Fallon, told the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg that she spoke with the pickup driver and a passenger after the crash. The driver appeared to be disoriented, and the passenger thought he might have injured his legs, she said.
Crates littered the road Friday as troopers searched for monkeys, rifles in hand. Valley Township firefighters used thermal imaging to try to locate the animals, and a helicopter also assisted, the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg reported.
