Escaped lion shot with tranquiliser and sedated after escape at Leipzig zoo

Both lions will soon be 'back behind bars', say zoo officials

Year-old lions Majo and Motshegetsi have been at Leipzig zoo since August (Leipzig zoo/Facebook)

Zoo workers have recaptured two young lions that escaped overnight at Leipzig zoo, shooting one with a tranquiliser.

The lions, named Majo and Motshegetsi, were both about a year old and managed to break out of their cages, sparking an evacuation of the zoo and a search for the pair.

According to the Press Association, the zoo said it has recaptured one lion and shot and sedated another.

Zoo workers said one lion was successfully corralled back into its cage and the second was shot with a tranquilliser and was expected to soon also be back behind bars.

The two male lions were born about a year ago in Switzerland's Basel Zoo and have been at the Leipzig Zoological Garden since August.

Emergency services attended the scene, and photographs showed visitors waiting outside the zoo this morning after the evacuation.

Leipzig zoo first opened in 1878, and boasts the world’s largest indoor rainforest, which is 4.1 acres in size. In comparison, the tropical biome at the Eden Project in Cornwall covers an area of 3.9 acres.

Leipzig zoo has successfully bred over 2,000 lions in the past, and 250 rare Siberian tigers.

It remains unclear how the lions escaped.