HEIDELBERG, Miss. — Three monkeys were still on the loose Wednesday in Mississippi after a truck carrying the research animals overturned .

Officials said midday Tuesday that all but one of the escaped Rhesus monkeys had been killed, but Jasper County Sheriff’s Department later said officials from Tulane University, which had been housing the monkeys, got into the trailer Tuesday evening and determined that three monkeys had escaped.

Contrary to initial reports from the occupants of the transport truck, who warned that the monkeys were dangerous and infected with various diseases, Tulane officials said the monkeys were not infectious, Sheriff Randy Johnson said in a news release. The monkeys still needed to be “neutralized” because of their aggressive nature, Johnson said.

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