A wild orangutan was seen running across a road in the middle of a village in Indonesia.

Footage shows the large primate rushing across the street in East Kutai, East Kalimantan Province on Wednesday afternoon October 7.

It grabbed several pieces of rambutan fruit from nearby trees before disappearing into bushes, where it has been hiding ever since.

Onlooker Sigit said: ‘People there panicked when they saw a big orangutan crossing the road. This rarely happens.’

Eyewitnesses said the orangutan appeared scared of humans as it ran into a resident’s garden to hide. The hungry ape was later seen climbing up a tree and eating some rambutan fruit.

Sigit said: ‘It looks like it was starving since it went into the settlements to look for food.’

Head of the East Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), Ratna Juliarti Wulandari, said that she had received a report regarding the appearance of the large orangutan.

She added: ‘We are preparing steps to deal with the orangutans.’

BKSDA is formulating an action plan to carry out the removal, herding, and rescue of orangutans. Meanwhile, she urged the public to leave the wild apes alone.

She said: ‘We ask residents not to disturb the animal, and also not to feed it so that it can return to its habitat safely.’

The orangutans are believed to be roaming the residents’ settlements because they were hungry. The food supply in their habitat is depleted due to mining and plantations.

The fruit season in the community’s plantations attracts orangutans to enter the settlements.