No, Jasper County, Texas Doesn’t Have Escaped Monkeys. That’s Mississippi.

Photo by: Jasper County, Mississippi Sheriff's Department

There are escaped monkeys on the loose — but don’t start scanning the pine trees just yet.

They’re in Jasper County, Mississippi, not Texas.

Sheriff Chuck Havard shut the rumor down quickly:

“There are no missing monkeys in Jasper County, Texas. Any inquiries or questions about the missing monkeys should be directed to the Jasper County, Mississippi Sheriff’s Office. Ya’ll stand down!”

The chaos online began after a truck hauling rhesus research monkeys overturned on I-59 in Jasper County, Mississippi. Several primates escaped.

Here’s what caused the confusion:

• A truck hauling research monkeys crashed in Mississippi.

• Mississippi law enforcement initially warned the monkeys could be infectious, based on what the driver told deputies — he claimed they carried hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID, and required PPE to handle.

• Tulane University later disputed that, stating the monkeys are “not infectious” and belong to another research entity, not Tulane.

• Texans started calling the wrong sheriff’s office because both places are named Jasper County.

  
  

So to summarize:

• Monkeys escaped? Yes.

• In Jasper County, Texas? No. Jasper County, Mississippi.

East Texas can relax. Wrong Jasper County.