PARIS (REUTERS, AFP) - Three baboons who went on the run, prompting the evacuation and closure of in Paris's main zoo, ended their escapade and were returned to their enclosure in the early hours of Saturday (Jan 27).

The Vincennes zoo, shut on Friday afternoon while dozens of police and zoo-keepers launched a monkey-hunt, said the three - a baby and two older females - were returned to their enclosure at 4.15 am (0315 GMT).

"The incident is over," the zoo said in a statement.

It said it would reopen to visitors later in the day and was now trying to establish how the primates got loose in the first place.

Around 50 baboons had escaped from their enclosure on Friday forcing wardens to evacuate visitors while order was restored, the zoo said.

A worker at the zoo in the French capital spotted the breakout in the late morning when the primates were seen gathering in a service corridor used by personnel. Most of the baboons were returned to their enclosure on Friday.

The baboons did not reach public areas and the evacuation was ordered as a precaution, the zoo said in a statement.