This is the hilarious moment runaway lemurs run zoo keepers ragged after breaking out of their enclosure in Russia.

The ring-tailed lemurs were supposed to be kept in their enclosed exercise area at the Kazan Zoo and Botanical Garden in Russia’s Tatarstan Republic.

But to the delight of visitors, the agile Madagascan primates gave their carers the slip and leapt over low railings to run riot in the zoo grounds on 2nd June.

Video footage shot by guests shows them slipping past their keepers as they twist, turn and leap their way to a taste of freedom.

The lemurs popped up all over the zoo until they were eventually rounded up later in the day, reports local media.

A second video clip shows one scaling the sheer side of a zoo building while another perches on the top of a telephone pole waiting to jump up to join it.

Zoo officials have not commented on the escape, reports local media.

In the wild, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) are natural acrobats leaping through the jungle tree canopy of Madagascar, but they spend much of their time on the ground in family troops.

Their conservation status is currently listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and hunting.