A Heidelberg, Mississippi, woman shot and killed one of several rhesus monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on Interstate 59. She said her 16‑year‑old son spotted the animal near their yard and that she acted to protect her five children. Authorities say most of the 21 monkeys aboard the truck died in the crash and that experts determined three escaped. Tulane and state officials say the animals were recently checked and found pathogen‑free, though rhesus macaques are considered aggressive.
Mississippi Mother Shoots Escaped Rhesus Monkey After Sighting Near Home
A Heidelberg, Mississippi, woman shot and killed one of several rhesus monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on Interstate 59. She said her 16‑year‑old son spotted the animal near their yard and that she acted to protect her five children. Authorities say most of the 21 monkeys aboard the truck died in the crash and that experts determined three escaped. Tulane and state officials say the animals were recently checked and found pathogen‑free, though rhesus macaques are considered aggressive.
03:06, 03.11.2025Society
Mississippi mother shoots escaped rhesus monkey after sighting near her home
One of several rhesus monkeys that escaped after a transport truck overturned on Interstate 59 was shot and killed early Sunday by a Heidelberg, Mississippi, woman who says she feared for her children’s safety.
Jessica Bond Ferguson told reporters her 16‑year‑old son alerted the family after he saw a monkey in the yard. She said she got out of bed, grabbed a firearm and her cellphone, and saw the animal about 60 feet (18 meters) away.
“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Bond Ferguson, a mother of five (ages 4–16), told The Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he backed up and that's when he fell.”
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on social media that a homeowner found a monkey on their property Sunday morning and that the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took possession of the animal. The sheriff’s office said it had no additional details.
The animals involved are rhesus monkeys that had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans, which routinely supplies primates to scientific research programs. Tulane said the monkeys did not belong to the university and were not being transported by Tulane at the time of the crash.
Authorities say the truck carrying 21 monkeys overturned Tuesday on I‑59 north of Heidelberg. Officials reported most of the animals aboard were killed in the accident; Tulane animal experts examined the trailer and determined three monkeys had escaped. The Mississippi Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.
Rhesus macaques typically weigh about 16 pounds (7.2 kilograms) and are commonly used in medical research. Video taken after the wreck showed monkeys moving through tall grass beside the interstate amid crumpled wooden crates labeled “live animals.”
Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson said Tulane officials reported the monkeys were not infectious, despite initial claims from the truck’s occupants that the animals carried various diseases. Johnson added that the animals still needed to be “neutralized” because the species can be aggressive.
Tulane stated that the monkeys had recently received medical exams confirming they were pathogen‑free. Federal inspection records show that about a decade ago three rhesus macaques at Tulane’s breeding colony were euthanized after a documented biosecurity breach; the facility later revised procedures and retrained staff.
State wildlife officials said conservation officers were coordinating with sheriff’s deputies to locate any remaining escaped animals. The search follows a similar incident nearly a year earlier, when 43 rhesus macaques escaped from a South Carolina breeding compound and staff set traps to recapture them.