Police are warning residents in rural South Carolina to close their doors and windows after at least 43 monkeys escaped from a biological research laboratory.

The rhesus macaques escaped from an Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee — which is just off I-95 in the southern part of the state — Wednesday evening.

The company provides “primate research and development support to the scientific community,” according to its website.

None of the fugitive primates had been captured as of Thursday morning.

“We want to assure the community that there are no health risks associated with these animals. » the Yemassee Police Department said.

Police and Alpha Genesis staff have “strategically” set up traps around the area and are using thermal cameras to track the monkeys.

Local residents have been warned “to keep doors and windows secure to prevent these animals from entering homes”, according to police.

Residents are asked not to approach free-roaming monkeys, but instead to call 911 and report their sighting.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and state agriculture and wildlife officials are working with local police “to handle this incident in an efficient and humane manner,” Yemassee police said.

It is unclear how the primates managed to escape.

Alpha Genesis Inc. did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Rhesus macaques are native to India and China and are known for their high intelligence, according to National Geographic.

Apes have a long history of medical and scientific research on humans – and even preceded humans in their journey into space.

Yemassee is a small town of about 1,000 people located in Beaufort and Hampton counties in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Savannah, Georgia.