PITTSBURGH — A wandering pack of African painted dogs prompted the Pittsburgh Zoo to issue a lockdown order for visitors on Saturday.

Zoo spokeswoman Tracy Gray says in a statement that the so-called painted dogs made their way into a portion of the three-acre exhibit that is normally closed, but they never escaped.

Zoo president Barbara Baker says that when staff noticed the problem that morning they issued an alert. Visitors were moved inside for about an hour as a precaution until the dogs were lured back into their building with food.

African painted dogs eat zebra, antelope and other creatures and weigh between 35 and 80 pounds. They are an endangered species and the zoo has partnered with a group in Zimbabwe on a public education project.