WALTERBORO, S.C. — Authorities have released new information about a monkey named Bradley, who neighbors in a South Carolina neighborhood have spotted several times since he got loose days earlier.
Colleton County Animal Services Director Laura Clark said teams are still looking for the 15-year-old Japanese Macaque after he went missing on Thursday. Clark said Bradley escaped his habitat, where he has lived for six years, in Walterboro, South Carolina. She said the monkey's owner immediately contacted her office when it first went missing. While the owner initially thought he could bring the monkey home using his own resources, Clark said the animal was still loose in the Waterboro area as of 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.
“Animal Control and the Sheriff’s Office have received numerous tips as to Bradley’s location but because of the attention this situation has caused on social media and news channels, people who are trying to get a look at Bradley are sadly hampering the owner’s efforts to catch him,” Clark said.
She said that professionals have since been hired to bring Bradley home, and animal control officers are assisting. Clark urged anyone who sees Bradley to call 843-898-6113, a temporary line established to help communicate during the search for the animal.
"The community is very engaged with this issue and we hope that they will reach out and help us find Bradley and return him to his home,” Clark said.
Clark said Bradley isn't considered dangerous or aggressive to people or other animals, but she cautioned that he is a wild animal. The Colleton County Sheriff's Office also previously reported that Bradley attempted to attack a resident's dog and urged residents to be vigilant when letting their animals out as a precaution.