A zoo orangutan terrified a little girl when it tried to kiss her for pictures.

The primate at the Safari World Zoo was posing with tourists when the one-year-old girl Lebao's family joined the queue in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 11.

As trained by caretakers, the monkey wrapped its hairy arms around the toddler while trying to kiss her on the cheek, making Lebao visibly uncomfortable.

Footage shows the orangutan wearing a pink shirt waiting for one of the zookeeper's cue to do the kissing pose.

When the worker in the orange shirt clapped his hand, the orangutan pulled Lebao closer, but the girl pulled away, and she was taken by another caretaker.

The youngster's mum, Emily, said: ‘We visited the Bangkok Safari World Zoo, and my daughter was a bit overwhelmed with what happened. The orangutan was polite and just followed instructions.'

The girl was returned to her mother while the primate continued with the photo opportunity for other curious visitors.

Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in Southeast Asia. They are highly intelligent primates closely related to humans.

The Safari World Zoo offers the controversial attraction of receiving a quick kiss on the cheek from the primates and other poses for a brief photo session for 1,000 baht (21.34 GBP), a practice widely criticized by animal welfare experts and conservationists.