'˜They're stronger than us' - Warning as baboons escape zoo

More than 50 baboons escaped a zoo in Paris earlier today, with four of the larger animals still on the loose.

A baboon. (File photo). Picture: PA

The Paris Zoological Park was closed and guests were evacuated after more than 50 of the baboons escaped from their special enclosure to congregate around the ‘Big Rock’ at the centre of the zoo earlier today.

An unnamed official told the Guardian that baboons could be unpredictable “especially when stressed”, and ominously added: “They’re stronger than us,”

Zoo spokesman Jerome Munier told AP all four have been located in a closed area.

Zoo employees plan to use sedative arrows to capture them and put them back with the rest of the group of 50 baboons.

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.