- Around 50 of the primates got out of Paris’s main zoo today, forcing it to be shut
- Worker at the attraction in the Vincennes area spotted the breakout this morning
- Since the initial escape, most of the primates have been caught – except for four
Paris Zoo has been evacuated after dozens of baboons escaped from their enclosure.
Around 50 of the primates got out of Paris’s main zoo today, forcing wardens to evacuate visitors while order was restored, the zoo explained.
A worker at the attraction in the Vincennes area of the French capital spotted the breakout in the late morning when the baboons were seen gathering in a service corridor used by personnel.
‘Since then the baboons have been returned to their enclosure, except for four of them which have been located in this service zone and are being rounded up,’ the zoo said.
Zookeepers backed up by police went hunting for the monkey quartet in a zone near their enclosure.
‘A recapture procedure was immediately launched,’ the zoo said.
The public had been warned the evacuation was necessary because the animals can be unpredictable when stressed.
‘They are stronger than us,’ officials warned.
The baboons did not reach public areas and the evacuation was ordered as a precaution, the zoo said.
An official at the zoo said the remaining four will soon return since the dominant males have already come back.
Paris police intervened to help secure and evacuate the zoo, which will remain temporarily closed until the end of the incident.
Guinea baboons, originated from West Africa, are classified as a ‘near threatened’ species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Visitors can usually admire them around the zoo’s ‘Big Rock’ that towers over the Bois de Vincennes park, in eastern Paris.
Paris last experienced an animal-on-the-loose alert when a tiger briefly roamed the city after escaping from a circus cage last November. The beast was shot dead.
More to follow…