This is the impressive moment a smart red panda tried to open a zoo door.

Nico, the female red panda, attempted to get out of her enclosure by shaking the door handle at Nihondaira Zoo in Shizuoka, Japan, on September 22.

Footage shows the animal rattling the doorknob. A zookeeper then opened the door to find her standing in front of the doorway, looking up at him.

‘When a zookeeper is nearby, she shakes the doorknob because she wants to enter the room,' a zookeeper said.

'She knows there's food on the other side. She's trying to get in because she loves apples.'

Red pandas are typically shy and solitary animals, but they also have a sweet side and are known to be intelligent and playful creatures.