The escaped goat has finally been captured.

Four hours after police began hunting for a goat that was on the run outside Melbourne Zoo, the animal has been taken into custody this afternoon.

The billy goat made police a little gruff when it darted away from them on Elliott Avenue outside the zoo’s Parkville campus this morning, prompting fears it would run on to nearby roads.

One witness tweeted that police were "running around like headless chooks!" attempting to capture the animal.

But the cunning escapee was reportedly captured by police and a news crew in the middle of a nearby oval at 2.30pm.

Earlier, a police spokeswoman said police were called to Elliott Avenue about 10.20am and were still looking for the animal after midday.

"The last update we received was that it was still on the run, and was last seen heading south on Elliott Avenue," the police spokeswoman said.

It was not known how many police were outside the zoo, she said.

Melbourne Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke said goats were not kept at the zoo, and zoo staff had also confirmed that none of its animals had escaped.

It is unclear if it is the same goat that last week was spotted on a grassy area of the CityLink toll road, near Flemington Road, and which had been spotted in the area several times over the past few weeks.

That animal eluded crews who were desperate to catch it.

"Being a goat, it is fairly quick and agile," a CityLink spokeswoman said last week, adding that protocol requires it to be sent to the Lost Dogs Home if caught.

"We are increasing our watch of the area and keeping our eye on it."

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