All monkeys that escaped Pennsylvania truck crash accounted for
The monkey business is over.
Multiple monkeys briefly escaped following a truck crash in central Pennsylvania, but all the primates were accounted for by Saturday night.
Residents in Montour County had been warned against approaching a monkey on the loose Saturday morning because a pickup truck towing a trailer carrying about 100 of the animals slammed into a dump truck.
The bananas scene unfolded around 3:30 p.m. on Friday on State Route 54 near the Danville exit of Interstate 80, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Andrea Pelachick told the Daily Item. The truck carrying the animals was traveling to a lab. They had initially landed at Kennedy Airport from the island nation of Mauritius.
Daniel Adkins, 59, a passenger in the monkey-hauling vehicle, suffered minor injuries in the crash, but both drivers escaped unharmed. Four monkeys initially managed to escape, sending cops and wildlife officials alike into the woods along the highway with flashlights through freezing temperatures.
“Crash Update: All monkeys have been accounted for,” Pennsylvania state troopers tweeted Saturday night.
The primates are part of the cynomolgus species, which are typically used for scientific research and can often cost up to $10,000. There has been an increased demand for the monkeys as of late, particularly for the testing of COVID-19 vaccines.
PETA expressed concern for the animals.
“Because these 100-long tailed macaque monkeys were headed to a laboratory to be caged, tormented and killed, they were already in danger — but now the public is too,” the group said in a statement before the final monkeys were retrieved. “The four who got away are undoubtedly terrified and likely injured, and they may be harboring viruses that are transmissible to humans.”
