Mississippi mother of five kills escaped research monkey following truck crash
(November 3, 2025) Early Sunday morning, a homeowner in rural Jasper County, Mississippi, shot and killed one of the monkeys that escaped after a research-animal transport truck overturned on the road last week. The incident has raised questions not only about public safety but about the potentially hazardous nature of transporting research animals through public highways.
Background: On Tuesday, October 28, a truck transporting 21 rhesus macaque monkeys overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg in Jasper County. According to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, wood crates labelled “live animals” were strewn along the roadside after the crash. The department initially posted that several of the animals had escaped, that the monkeys were “aggressive” and possibly carrying diseases such as herpes or hepatitis C, as reported by the truck driver.
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According to CBS News, 13 of the 21 monkeys were recovered at the crash scene, five were killed in subsequent capture efforts, and three remained at large. The Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans confirmed that the monkeys had been housed there but added that the university did not own or transport them. Local wildlife officials said that although the animals were not found to be infected with pathogens, their “aggressive nature” justified a rapid response, according to The Associated Press.
Mississippi Mama: Early yesterday morning, homeowner Jessica Bond Ferguson, mother of five children aged 4 to 16, responded to a call from her 16-year-old son who believed he had seen a monkey running in the yard. She told ABC News that she grabbed her firearm, went outside, and spotted the monkey about 60 feet away. She said she had previously been warned by officials that the escaped monkeys might carry disease.
“I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” she told reporters.
(Image credit: Jessica Bond Ferguson, Facebook – per X)
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Ferguson said she fired once, and when the monkey didn’t run off, she fired a second shot when it backed up and fell. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a homeowner had found a monkey on their property and that the state’s Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks had taken possession of the animal.
Wildlife officers are still on the lookout for those still unaccounted for escaped monkeys.
As of Sunday evening, two monkeys were still missing, according to KETV.
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Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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