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A BABOON was shot dead after escaping from a safari park and being spotted on a playground.

The male primate escaped from his enclosure in Knowsley Safari Park at about 8.20am yesterday.

The park activated its animal emergency procedure after the monkey braved an electric fence to get away from 20 other baboons who were chasing it.

The animal, which had been trying to protect its mate from the other males, then managed to get over the park’s perimeter fence.

Merseyside Police received a call from a member of the public who reported spotting the monkey on swings in a park on nearby Mill Lane at about 9.30am.

A moving police cordon was set up and the police helicopter was sent out as officers and park staff chased the baboon to an industrial unit where it was shot by the park’s gamekeeper.

A spokeswoman for the safari park said: “At 8.20am on Sunday morning the animal emergency procedure was activated after an adult male baboon was chased out of the enclosure by more than 20 other males.

“The baboon tried to protect his only female from being abducted by antagonist males – a common occurrence in baboon society.

“Cornered he saw the outside of the enclosure as his safe way out and decided to face the electric fence to protect himself.

“The emergency procedures were immediately instigated aiming to retrieve the baboon to a safe area.

“The police and the game keeper of the estate were contacted to assist.

“The baboon was located just outside the perimeter fence of the park.

“Sadly, in this situation, the safety measurement requires the animal to be shot.

The estate’s game keeper took the appropriate action.

“The team at Knowsley Safari care for every animal housed at the park.

“It’s very sad when something like this happens but the police, game keeper and animal management team did everything they could to resolve the situation quickly, safely and humanely.”

The spokeswoman said staff tracked the baboon for almost two hours.

It was shot at about 10.15am.

A police spokesman said: “Merseyside Police can confirm we were called this morning to reports of a baboon on Mill Lane.

“We deployed the helicopter to try and trace it and used a moving police cordon to keep the public away.”

He said the decision to shoot the animal was made by the gamekeeper in the interests of public safety and said an internal inquiry would be held by the safari park.