It was the last monkey on the loose from the Oct. 28 crash when the truck overturned on Interstate 59.
HEIDELBERG, Miss. — The final monkey still missing after a truck carrying research animals crashed on a Mississippi highway has been found and safely captured, officials confirmed Thursday.
According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, a local resident near the crash site contacted authorities after spotting the animal. Wildlife personnel and representatives from the transport company arrived and successfully recovered the monkey.
The capture ends a search that began after an October 28 crash on Interstate 59, when a truck carrying Rhesus monkeys overturned near Heidelberg. The accident created a chaotic scene, with officers’ body camera footage showing monkeys escaping their wooden crates and running across the grassy median and highway lanes.
Five monkeys were killed immediately following the crash. Two others were later shot and killed by civilians, who told authorities they feared for their safety after officials warned residents not to approach the animals. Rhesus monkeys can be aggressive, wildlife officials noted.
The last monkey was discovered Wednesday afternoon near a home in the Vossburg area, just east of the crash site. Resident Brandy Smith said her dog’s barking alerted her to the animal’s presence. After she and her neighbors called 911, workers from the transport company arrived and used a tranquilizer to capture the monkey.
The monkeys had been housed at Tulane University’s National Primate Research Center in Louisiana, which provides primates to scientific research organizations. Tulane said it was not responsible for the transport and did not own the animals.
PreLabs, a biomedical research support company, confirmed it was overseeing the lawful transport of the monkeys to a licensed research facility. The company added that the animals were not carrying any known diseases, and that 13 surviving monkeys arrived safely at their destination last week.
The incident has drawn renewed attention to the secrecy surrounding animal research, as contractual confidentiality often prevents the public from learning details about studies and animal transport procedures.