This is the bizarre moment a zookeper dressed up as an ostrich for an animal escape drill in Thailand.

The male caretaker donned an amusing DIY bird suit - composed of a towering headpiece, flappy cloth wings, and even white face paint - and pretended to rampage around the Chiang Mai zoo as net-wielding colleagues chased after him on August 23.

Staff eventually captured the fugitive 'bird', ending the hilarious emergency simulation.

The confusing scene was part of the zoo's 'wild animal management plan' - a training protocol for the workers in case any of their wild tenants ever escape their enclosures, Chiang Mai Zoo director Wuttichai Muangman said.

He added: ‘The activity includes everyone in the zoo: the staff, the vets, and the visitors, so we are confident that we can control the situation quickly should it happen. This is part of keeping the zoo safe.'

In 2019, the zoo also held a similar exercise featuring a feisty kangaroo that wore boxing gloves and threw fake punches at staff before being subdued.

Director Wuttichai said: ‘We are home to 7,000 animals in this extensive zoo. We need to be prepared.'

While appearing mostly harmless inside their enclosures, an angry ostrich's kick is enough to floor a lion.

Last year, an ostrich escaped a farm in Chonburi province and caused a two-hour traffic jam in the area as police had difficulties catching it.