Five dangerous predators - two lions, two tigers and a jaguar - which reportedly escaped Friday from a German zoo close to the Luxembourg border are back "in their cages", local authorities said.

Officials had earlier asked residents to stay indoors and keep their windows and doors shut as a massive hunt was under way for the big cats. A district spokesman would not immediately give details on the felines' escape or how they were returned to captivity.

Police killed a bear and were searching for the other animals that broke out of their cages in a zoo in Luenebach, western Germany on Friday.