This is the terrifying moment a family had a very close encounter with a chimpanzee which had escaped moments earlier from its enclosure at Belfast Zoo in the UK on Saturday.

Dean McFaul filmed several chimpanzees using branches to scale the wall of their enclosure.

Then, he and his partner Danielle Monaghan and her children encountered one of the apes on a path.

The adult chimp, capable of killing a human, emerged from the bushes feet away from the family and walked onto the zoo path.

McFaul can be heard in the video warning the children to stay back.

Fortunately, the escapee seemed more interested in exploring its new surroundings than starting any trouble.

Zookeeper Alyn Cairns said trees in their enclosure have been weakened by the storms, allowing the chimps to break them and use them as a ladder to escape.

He's going to escape... Chimpanzees working as a team like humans

Chimpanzee on the loose with dean mcfaul Danielle Monaghan and his nieces and his partners kids