Truck Carrying 100 Lab Monkeys Crashes, Several Escape

But this is real life — and it happened in Pennsylvania over the weekend.

A truck bound for a CDC lab carrying 100 macaque monkeys collided with a dump truck on the Interstate 80 in Montour County on Friday, spilling dozens of crates onto the highway… and with it, its live cargo.

A number of the animals escaped, sending state troopers and game wardens on an armed hunt to try and recover them.

Firefighters used thermal imaging to try to locate the animals — who would not have been used to the frigid temperatures — while a helicopter was also summoned to assist.

“A small number of monkeys may have fled the crash scene into the surrounding area,” Trooper Lauren Lesher tweeted. “If the public spots one, please keep your distance and call 911 immediately. Health and safety of residents and visitors is our top priority.”

The officer told AP that the concern was “due to it not being a domesticated animal and them being in an unknown territory. It is hard to say how they would react to a human approaching them.”

By Saturday morning, all but one of the escapees had been tracked down. His fellow prison-breakers were “humanely euthanized,” although the CDC did not say why.

“There is still one monkey unaccounted for, but we are asking that no one attempt to look for or capture the animal,” she tweeted. “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.”

Later on Saturday, the Troopers confirmed the last fugitive had been tracked down. “Crash Update: All monkeys have been accounted for,” they tweeted.

There was some confusion over how many had been on the loose; Troopers told WNEP that four had escaped, but according to the police crash report, only three had. Either way, authorities insist all have been accounted for.

According to AP, the monkeys had been en route to a CDC-approved quarantine facility, having arrived at New York’s Kennedy Airport from Mauritius earlier that morning.

It is unclear how many — if any — monkeys died in the initial crash.