Paris Zoo was evacuated after four baboons escaped from their enclosure.

Police surrounded the area during a search for the missing monkeys after an employee encountered one in a corridor and raised the alarm.

The zoo said “a recapture procedure was immediately launched” and all four primates were located in a closed area.

They were captured with the use of sedative arrows and returned to their enclosure, which houses 50 baboons.

Initial reports suggested all 50 baboons had escaped but a zoo spokesman told The Independent this was not the case.

None of the monkeys roamed into public areas, he added.

The attraction remained closed until the monkeys are back in their enclosure. Pictures on social media appeared to show armed police surrounding the zoo, with nearby roads shut.

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, which towers over the Bois de Vincennes park in eastern Paris.

It is the second time that an escaped animal has caused a security alert in the French capital.