By MIKE SCHNEIDER
One of many monkeys that escaped final week after a truck overturned on a Mississippi freeway was shot and killed early Sunday by a girl who says she feared for the security of her kids.
Jessica Bond Ferguson mentioned she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who mentioned he thought he had seen a monkey working within the yard exterior their dwelling close to Heidelberg, Mississippi. She obtained away from bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone and stepped exterior the place she noticed the monkey about 60 toes (18 meters) away.
Bond Ferguson mentioned she and different residents had been warned that the escaped monkeys carried illnesses so she fired her gun.
“I did what some other mom would do to guard her kids,” Bond Ferguson, who has 5 kids ranging in age from 4 to 16, instructed The Related Press. “I shot at it and it simply stood there, and I shot once more, and he backed up and that’s when he fell.”
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This picture offered by Scotty Ray Boyd exhibits an overturned truck which had been transporting a number of monkeys, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Heidelberg, Miss. (Scotty Ray Boyd through AP)
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This picture offered by Scotty Ray Boyd exhibits an overturned truck which had been transporting a number of monkeys, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Heidelberg, Miss. (Scotty Ray Boyd through AP)
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The Jasper County Sheriff’s Workplace confirmed in a social media publish {that a} home-owner had discovered one of many monkeys on their property Sunday morning however mentioned the workplace didn’t have any particulars. The Mississippi Division of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the monkey, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
Earlier than Bond Ferguson had gone out the door, she had referred to as the police and was instructed to regulate the monkey. However she mentioned she frightened that if the monkey obtained away it might threaten kids at one other home.
“If it attacked any individual’s child, and I may have stopped it, that will be lots on me,” mentioned Bond Ferguson, a 35-year-old skilled chef. “It’s sort of scary and harmful that they’re working round, and other people have children enjoying of their yards.”
The Rhesus monkeys had been housed on the Tulane College Nationwide Biomedical Analysis Middle in New Orleans, Louisiana, which routinely gives primates to scientific analysis organizations, in keeping with the college. In an announcement final week, Tulane mentioned the monkeys don’t belong to the college, and so they weren’t being transported by the college.
A truck carrying the monkeys overturned Tuesday on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg. Of the 21 monkeys within the truck, 13 have been discovered on the scene of the accident and arrived at their unique vacation spot final week, in keeping with Tulane. One other 5 have been killed within the hunt for them and three remained on the free earlier than Sunday.
The Mississippi Freeway Patrol has mentioned it was investigating the reason for the crash, which occurred about 100 miles from the state capital, Jackson.
Rhesus monkeys sometimes weigh about 16 kilos and are among the many most medically studied animals on the planet. Video recorded after the crash confirmed monkeys crawling by means of tall grass beside the interstate, the place wood crates labeled “reside animals” have been crumpled and strewn about.
Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson had mentioned Tulane officers reported the monkeys weren’t infectious, regardless of preliminary experiences by the truck’s occupants warning that the monkeys have been harmful and harboring numerous illnesses. Nonetheless, Johnson mentioned the monkeys nonetheless wanted to be “neutralized” due to their aggressive nature.
The monkeys had just lately acquired checkups confirming they have been pathogen-free, Tulane mentioned in an announcement Wednesday.
Rhesus macaques “are identified to be aggressive,” in keeping with the Mississippi Division of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. It mentioned the company’s conservation staff have been working with sheriff’s officers within the seek for the animals.
The search comes about one yr after 43 Rhesus macaques escaped from a South Carolina compound that breeds them for medical analysis as a result of an worker didn’t absolutely lock an enclosure. Workers from the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, had arrange traps to seize them.
