Monkeys attack lab assistant in Delhi, make off with COVID-19 blood samples: 'This is something new'

A monkey.
(Image credit: Olga Petrusha/iStock)

In what is definitely not the start of a movie about a global primate uprising, a "gang of monkeys" overpowered a lab assistant at the Meerut Medical College in Delhi, India, on Friday and made off with three COVID-19 blood samples, Sky News reports. After the incident, videos emerged of one of the monkeys sitting in a tree "chewing the sample collection kits," The Times of India adds.

In recent weeks, monkeys in Delhi have been described as "reclaiming" the city as people have largely stayed indoors due to the lockdown. An officer at the Rashtrapati Bhawan presidential compound told France24 in early April that the primates seemed to be "stealing a lot more, but not yet threatening humans."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.