Tulane center monkeys escape
Half are captured in time for dinner

Wednesday March 12, 2003
By Paul Rioux
St. Tammany bureau
Two dozen monkeys escaped Tuesday from the Tulane Regional Primate Center and holed up in woods near Covington, where animal-control workers used bananas and oranges to try to lure them back into captivity.

By Tuesday evening, half of the 24 rhesus macaques had yielded to their hunger and were recaptured, said Fran Simon, a spokeswoman for the center.

"Whenever any of our animals get free, they usually come back by feeding time," she said. "We expect to have the rest back in captivity by the end of the day."

It's unclear how the monkeys escaped from a fenced area outside the research facility on Three Rivers Road southeast of Covington, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman James Hartman said.

Although animal-rights activists have freed or attempted to free monkeys several times in the past, there were no signs that vandalism or other criminal activity played a role in Tuesday's escape, Hartman said.

The monkeys are classified as disease-free and pose no health risk to humans, Simon said. Even so, Tulane workers trying to capture the monkeys wore protective gowns and gloves as a standard precaution, she said.

About the size of an adult domestic cat, the monkeys are not aggressive unless cornered, Simon said. However, she said, there are mother-baby pairs among the escapees, which can increase the chances of aggressive behavior if the monkeys sense a threat.

Students and staff at nearby Northlake Christian School reported seeing several monkeys in the trees Tuesday afternoon. But as nightfall approached, the monkeys had returned to the ground, an indication that they were probably getting hungry and were ready to eat, Tulane workers said.

Tulane, which is the largest primate research center in the country with more than 4,500 monkeys, uses the animals to research diseases such as cancer, HIV, malaria, Lyme disease and leprosy.

The rhesus monkeys that escaped Tuesday are part of a breeding colony and had not been used for research, Simon said.

Two dozen monkeys escaped from the center in 1998. And in 1994, more than 80 monkeys were suspected of being released in a two-week period by animal-rights activists. Some of the monkeys remained on the lam for more than two weeks before being recaptured.
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Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2852.