Zoo goers were worried thinking an orangutan had broken loose and escaped its enclosure after they saw it climbing the ropes that hung right over their heads.
The ape was filmed by an unnamed visitor at the Shanghai Zoo, in China’s largest city.
In the video – shared on the Chinese microblogging website Weibo – dozens of tourists are heard yelling and gasping at the sight of a grown orangutan walking on ropes just a few feet above them.
As the animal slowly moves away from what appears to be its enclosure, worries grew that it might be making an attempt to escape.
Following the online concerns, the zoo came out with a statement reassuring visitors that no animals had escaped.
Staff members explained that the captured scene is actually part of one of their tourist attractions – as they allow their orangutans to showcase their arboreal nature.
They added that the ‘Sky Stroll’ behavioural display has been carefully planned and they have made sure to protect the safety of the orangutans as well as the visitors.
The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is a species of great ape that is found living in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia.
They are the most arboreal of all the great apes and spend most of their time in trees.
The orangutan has been listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the ICUN Red List primarily due to poaching and habitat loss.
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