A playful gibbon showed it has a real cheeky personality when it spotted a zoo visitor and began mirroring her every move.

Wildlife fan Ms Wang said the copycat antics were filmed by her friend after they noticed that the clever ape quickly mimicked her gestures at the zoo in the city of Nanning, in southern China.

Ms Wang told local media she just wanted to tease the little gibbon but did not expect it would be teasing her too.

She began walking forwards and back outside the gibbon’s enclosure and the ape quickly picked up the movements.

Then as Ms Wang trotted by its cage with her arms raised in the air, the naughty ape mimicked her exact pose and simultaneously moved up and down the other side of the glass.

She said her friends found the whole situation hilarious and told her they believe she and the gibbon are soulmates.

Gibbons (Hylobatidae) ) are small apes that are predominantly found in the forests of South East Asia, South China, Bangladesh and North-East India.

They spend most of their lives in trees which sometimes makes them easy to confuse with monkeys when they are actually a unique species of primates.

Although they don’t tend to learn as quick as gorillas do, they are intelligent and can often pick up social cues and learn different behaviours.