Frantic wildlife staff are searching for an escaped kangaroo that was seen hopping along a road in Thailand.

Footage shows the runaway marsupial bounding along a main road leading into the Doi Suthep National Park - around a kilometre from the Chiang Mai Zoo where it escaped - in Chiang Mai province this morning.

Manager Wuttichai Muangman said the fugitive female roo aged two managed to escape when bungling zookeepers accidentally left the doors of its enclosure open.

She then fled through a back door, passing in front of the zoo's monkey cages and the Australian animals section before making her way towards the road.

The zoo said in a statement on May 29 afternoon: 'Recently, a red kangaroo was see in the forest around Doi Suthep and the Chiang Mai Earthquake Monitoring Station, but it has not been caught yet.

'However, we have organised continuous searches with staff and an ambulance. The veterinary team is also monitoring the vicinity until the kangaroo can be found.'

Zoo officials said the kangaroo may have entered the forest to escape stray dogs, that wander freely through streets and wasteland.

Athapon Sriherun, director of The Zoological Park Organization, said staff were prepared to handle the situation, as they simulated animal escapes every year.

However, questions are now being raised of how effective their bizarre practice routines - in which staff dress in animal costumes - actually are.

The director said: 'Since the kangaroo is not particularly dangerous, extreme measures do not need to be carried out. Instead, staff will lure it with food before surrounding and capturing it.'

He added that the cause of the kangaroo's escape will be further investigated.

Chiang Mai Zoo had previously simulated the scenario by having a zookeeper don a kangaroo onesie and red boxing gloves during an animal escape drill in 2019.

A similar training exercise was held at the zoo in 2022, when staff dressed as an escaped ostrich.