An island in South Carolina is home to thousands of monkeys.

The animals on the island are federally protected, and it took years to find the place, Monkey Island.

Finding an island that few people even believe exists is nearly impossible.

"Like you said, a lot of people don't believe it," said Vince Loper.

Loper thought it was an urban legend, and his family has owned a home directly across from Monkey Island for decades.

Today Vince and his son Devin are helping us find what so many say is a myth.

The funny thing is you can look and look and look until you see one you don't see any and then you see one and then they're everywhere.

After several hours snaking through South Carolina estuaries, the years-long search pays off.

Slowly, one at a time, they come towards our boat.

They're called Rhesus monkeys and they're native to India, but 3,500 of them live in the wild here in South Carolina.

Rhesus monkeys were first brought here in 1979 and they were left on this island free-ranging to live and breed almost 750 newborns a year.

Every monkey is tagged or tattooed, and each year 500 monkeys are taken to labs.

Over the decades, they've been used to test vaccines for everything from aids to bio-terrorism agents.

Few people, even those who live here, have ever seen them.

"Just in amazement that there's monkeys running around on that island right there. Ha ha ha."

And seeing them first hand in the Carolinas is a bit mind boggling.