Monkey or ape is running wild in South Carolina

An unidentified primate is on the loose in Walterboro, South Carolina, the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said on social media Friday.

Law enforcement didn't say what type of monkey or ape is roaming about or how it escaped. The sheriff’s office warned Walterboro residents to ensure their pets were being monitored while outside so as not to spook the primate.

The monkey or ape has already attacked a dog in a yard, CCSO Detective Laura Rutland told Charleston's Post and Courier newspaper.

The animal has also gotten close to people. One local resident, Barbara Taylor, told Columbia CBS affiliate WLTX-TV, “I came out to my car to get my pocketbook out, and I happened to look back, and I said, 'Oh my God,' and he was standing right up under my metal carport right there.”

A video sent by someone to Charleston station WCSC-TV shows it walking on four legs on the roof of a building.

An image sent to CNN shows the primate has a red face and gray-brown fur. An unidentified expert told the Post and Courier that it's likely a macaque monkey.

South Carolina law prohibits ownership of great apes, which include gorillas, chimps and orangutans, but people can own other primate species, according to CNN.