The Vincennes zoo in the French capital Paris was set to reopen on Saturday after an escape by some 50 freedom-loving baboons forced it to close and evacuate all visitors on Friday afternoon.

Some 60 firefighters, 20 police and all of the zoo's staff took part in the search for the AWOL primates, with the last three — a baby and two older females — being returned to their enclosure in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"The incident is over, " the zoo said in a statement, adding that it was now trying to find out how the baboons succeeded in getting out.

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Disturbed meeting

The alarm was raised late Friday morning when a staff member happened upon some of the primates gathering in a service corridor.

Although none of the baboons reached any of the public areas, the evacuation was ordered as a precaution, the zoo said.

The animals are normally housed in the area surrounding the 65-meter (213-foot) artificial mountain at the center of the park that is popularly known as the "grand rocher" ("big rock") and is the zoo's emblem.

The Vincennes zoo was founded in 1934 but underwent extensive renovation work from the end of 2008 until mid-2014 to bring it up to modern standards. It remains one of the most popular zoos in France.

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tj/jlw (Reuters, AFP)