This is the amusing moment an agile monkey shimmied across a rope bridge to reach a tourist and attempt to steal her bag.

Ms Jiang and her friends spotted the stump-tailed macaque crossing the river through the cable lines to approach them on the riverside at the Erlang Mountain Laba River in Sichuan, China.

Footage shows the primate holding the overhead rope with its hands as it hurriedly moves toward the bank on December 14.

Once the animal reached dry land, it rushed toward the female vacationer and yanked at her bag.

The woman and the mischievous monkey were then locked in a brief tug-of-war as the primate refused to let go of the strap.

Ms Jiang said: 'We were playing by the riverbank, and when the monkeys noticed us from the opposite side, some of them immediately made their way over the rope with surprising speed.'

Monkeys, like other animals, may attack when they feel threatened. Risks from monkey bites include serious wound infections, the herpes B virus, and rabies.